How important is an agency's track record of sales in your genre?

If they're an established agency, they have a track record you can verify. Take a look and see if there are any titles similar to yours already on the market they've handled.

The most important thing would be to look at the publishers they've done deals with, I would expect.

If the agency has dealt with all children's or YA titles, but sold them to imprints/presses that also do adult titles, you shouldn't have any issues.

They really should know and have a track record of working with the right editors for work like yours. That's what I'd question. And also whether they know enough about your genre and target market needs to identify the revisions required to make your manuscript most marketable.

Asking about how well-positioned they are to sell your work is a perfectly good and reasonable question to ask the agent before signing. And they should feel comfortable answering that. If not, that'd be a red flag.

Treehouseman said:

The most important thing would be to look at the publishers they've done deals with, I would expect.

If the agency has dealt with all children's or YA titles, but sold them to imprints/presses that also do adult titles, you shouldn't have any issues.

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I disagree.

If they've worked with some great publishers then that's obviously very good.

However, if they've only worked with YA imprints at those great publishers they'll only have relationships with YA editors there. They won't know what the editors of adult fiction will be looking for, and they won't have a working reputation with those adult imprints.

This doesn't mean it'll be impossible for them to place your work there, but it will make it harder for them than it would be for an agent/agency who does have that working relationship already in place.

It's a hard one. I signed for a YA agent with my YA book but I also write adult. In my case I'm confident my agent has the contacts with editors to support both and the agency, Bent, have a strong track record in both. But it was a factor that we talked about when I was agreeing the offer (more because I didn't want to work with two agents, one for YA and adult.)

No chance in hell that I would sign with an agent who didn't have strong sales in my genre. It puzzles me why such an agency would even want to represent you. Did you query them without fist checking the tracks record fro sale sin your genre?

Herstory, for future reference: always check agents' track records before you query them. You don't want to get an offer only to discover that the agent hasn't sold anything and probably won't be able to sell your books either; and it's a waste of time querying someone who won't be able to do a good job for you.

What Old Hack said. Check every track record you can find, across the entire agency. Would you buy a house or a car without having it independently assessed, first?

Why? Agents die or leave agencies. You can be stuck with a mms at an agency, with another agent who has no idea where to market your work, and possibly no real interest in doing so. It's great if you can get the mms back and have a list of publishers who saw it. Better, if there's someone still at the agency who can take over efficiently and enthusiastically.

I'm always delighted when an agent's interests line up with mine. I'm even happier when his or her track record does so, too.

I won't name names, but I know of at least two relatively incompetent agents who actually stalled or harmed authors' careers. Not out of malice, just because they didn't know better. That the agents have gone on to other agencies in the interim, makes me cast a skeptical eye toward their new agencies. Guilt by association is a harsh charge, but I'd rather play it safe and stay away from the circus.

I'll add an anecdotal story: a friend of mine landed a very enthusiastic agent after a long search. The agent was fairly new but hungry and loved my friend's work. The friend signed. They met for lunch several times, got along fabulously and had a very easygoing rapport. The agent was her unfailing champion. But two solid manuscripts later, the agent failed to sell either one, failed to give my friend insights into revisions that could improve the manuscripts and ended up never developing editorial contacts in my friend's genre. My friend trunked one novel, published the other independently and now has to write a third manuscript to land a new, better agent.

No matter how swell the agent may seem or how well you connect, the business aspect matters most of all. The saying is really true: It's better to have no agent than the wrong agent.

Good feedback here. I honestly am swayed by connecting with an agent, based on what I read about them. A bit more so than I should be, perhaps. Sales really is the important thing though as stated. Good rapport won't sell a book though there should at least be some.

Sales aren't everything. Writers can make a lot of loot and still be unhappy about the direction their careers take. E.g. wanting to write a book that is not entirely mainstream and being discouraged from doing so, etc.

So definitely research sales, while continuing to read about agent's interests as well. Just give the former more prominence. Advice for me too.

Quickbread said:

No matter how swell the agent may seem or how well you connect, the business aspect matters most of all. The saying is really true: It's better to have no agent than the wrong agent.

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This gives me jitters, but I think when there's an offer of representation and you've been submitting for a while, you're so damn happy to hear YES that it seems hard to really ask the tough questions. Oi.

spieles said:

This gives me jitters, but I think when there's an offer of representation and you've been submitting for a while, you're so damn happy to hear YES that it seems hard to really ask the tough questions. Oi.

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It does. That's why it bears repeating. The author really has to be thinking of their career, not the short-term gratification of having an agent rave about their work.

And I totally agree that rapport matters, a lot. It just shouldn't weigh more than the agent's ability to do good business for and with the author.

Just my two cents.

Well, I'll play a little devil's advocate and send you to Janet Reid's blog post from today. (Oct 17)

Culling what's pertinent, she paraphrases one of the issues raised in the letter she's answering...
"(2) You assumed that because you could not find any sales in your genre, there weren't any."

...and then responds thus:
"For starters, not all deals are reported. My Publishers Marketplace deal listings are sadly out of date, and not just cause I'm lying around eating bonbons and watching telenovellas. Some deals aren't announced till foreign sales are made. I'm waiting to announce one now cause I want to use the correct title, and I know the publisher is changing it. Never assume you know how many deals an agent has done, or not."

That's obviously contrary to a lot of advice here, and I'd agree, it needs a certain degree of salt. It certainly doesn't mean don't bother to research. But Janet Reid isn't out there to blow smoke up anyone's skirt (or trousers) and she's got a valid point.

Do you know why they want to rep something that seems outside their bailiwick? Did you ask? Are they trying to expand their reach and feel their agents are up to the task? It seems to me it's worth asking. I presume (not having experienced it myself) that an agent understands the professional side of things and wouldn't be offended by such questions. It's an important decision for you and you need all the information you can get, even if you have to ask for it.

If you read the entire blog post, you'll see that Ms. Reid thinks assumptions can sometimes lead you down a bad path. Are you comfortable with them in every other way? If so, gather your gumption and make an inquiry directly to the agent who offered you rep. And best of luck! Hope it all works out.

Ken said:

Sales aren't everything. Writers can make a lot of loot and still be unhappy about the direction their careers take. E.g. wanting to write a book that is not entirely mainstream and being discouraged from doing so, etc.

So definitely research sales, while continuing to read about agent's interests as well. Just give the former more prominence. Advice for me too.

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If any agent, however good, actually tried to tell me what to write, we'd part company overnight. An agent can certainly suggest I write something, if she knows me, knows my talent and my desire. There's nothing wrong with this. But that's as far as it should go.

As a writer, you should be firmly in charge of your own career, and should always write exactly what you want to write. Actually, I've never once had an agent tell me I should write or not write anything. It's perfectly fine for an agent to say, "Have you thought about writing X, or Y, or Z? I think you'd be good at it."

It's not fine for an agent to say, "You need to stop writing X, and start writing Y. There's a better market for it."

You always have to remember that the agent works for you, not the other way around.

Jamesaritchie said:

If any agent, however good, actually tried to tell me what to write, we'd part company overnight. An agent can certainly suggest I write something, if she knows me, knows my talent and my desire. There's nothing wrong with this. But that's as far as it should go.

As a writer, you should be firmly in charge of your own career, and should always write exactly what you want to write. Actually, I've never once had an agent tell me I should write or not write anything. It's perfectly fine for an agent to say, "Have you thought about writing X, or Y, or Z? I think you'd be good at it."

It's not fine for an agent to say, "You need to stop writing X, and start writing Y. There's a better market for it."

You always have to remember that the agent works for you, not the other way around.

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That's good to know. Thnx. I guess I'd also want the agent to ideally share a similar perspective regarding what's important to me and where I want to take things. Say for instance you want to draw attention to social injustices in some of your novels. The issue is important to you. Then you read about an agent who has actually championed that cause in some way or other and seems rather passionate on the subject. So having them as an agent will put you in an environment where you feel encouraged. Probably seems silly, but to me this has always been a factor. Not that it's a deal breaker. Just sorta icing on the cake.

Ken said:

That's good to know. Thnx. I guess I'd also want the agent to ideally share a similar perspective regarding what's important to me and where I want to take things. Say for instance you want to draw attention to social injustices in some of your novels. The issue is important to you. Then you read about an agent who has actually championed that cause in some way or other and seems rather passionate on the subject. So having them as an agent will put you in an environment where you feel encouraged. Probably seems silly, but to me this has always been a factor. Not that it's a deal breaker. Just sorta icing on the cake.

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Oh, to find such an agent and have them actually want my book...

*sighs wistfully*

Herstory said:

ElaineA, thank you so much for directing me to Janet Reid's blog post. It was very helpful. And yes, I've asked the agent all the questions you mentioned and have been satisfied with the answers.

On a different note (and not directed at Elaine), I would really appreciate it if those of you who have thousands of posts in these forums would consider your tone when answering questions from newbies on AbsoluteWrite. I'm noticing an increasing trend of replies to newbies' posts (including mine) with the clear assumption that just because we haven't posted here very often, we are complete idiots and know nothing about writing or the publishing process. I consider AbsoluteWrite a wonderful forum filled with very wise people but would like to see newbies treated with more courtesy.

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Herstory, I appreciate you trying to ensure we all follow AW's one rule of "respect your fellow writer", but in my experience such requests usually end up derailing threads; and we have lots of mods (like me!) who are almost always around, and who will deal with troublesome posts so long as we know about them.

If you see anything--anything--here which troubles you, it's better to use the "report post" button so that it can be dealt with without dragging the thread off-topic. Even if it's a mod's post you find worrying, report it.

Ken said:

That's good to know. Thnx. I guess I'd also want the agent to ideally share a similar perspective regarding what's important to me and where I want to take things. Say for instance you want to draw attention to social injustices in some of your novels. The issue is important to you. Then you read about an agent who has actually championed that cause in some way or other and seems rather passionate on the subject. So having them as an agent will put you in an environment where you feel encouraged. Probably seems silly, but to me this has always been a factor. Not that it's a deal breaker. Just sorta icing on the cake.

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No, not silly at all. But unless that agent has experience selling in that genre, it can make things tougher. Chances are, however, that an agent who's so passionate about something probably has sought out such books in the past. Passion and what an agent looks for tend to go hand in hand.

Seems to me that at a point when you have an agent offering there is nothing wrong with asking about experience in a genre, specific plans for the book, etc. If those answers are unsatisfactory then go with another agent. Especially since this is someone you are working with for the duration of your career (at least that's the intention), being able to communicate effectively from the start is crucial.

Lady Chipmunk said:

Seems to me that at a point when you have an agent offering there is nothing wrong with asking about experience in a genre, specific plans for the book, etc. If those answers are unsatisfactory then go with another agent. Especially since this is someone you are working with for the duration of your career (at least that's the intention), being able to communicate effectively from the start is crucial.

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All you're probably doing at that point is wasting your time, and the agent's time. You are, in fact, probably just wasting both if you query an agent without first checking out her sales record.

Good communication from the start means asking crucial questions before you waste each other's time.

Not much, if anything, is more important than sales record. Not knowing this before querying is like not knowing what genres the agent represents. It's just not wise, and can lead to a lot of confusion, at best.

Jamesaritchie said:

All you're probably doing at that point is wasting your time, and the agent's time. You are, in fact, probably just wasting both if you query an agent without first checking out her sales record.

Good communication from the start means asking crucial questions before you waste each other's time.

Not much, if anything, is more important than sales record. Not knowing this before querying is like not knowing what genres the agent represents. It's just not wise, and can lead to a lot of confusion, at best.

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I'm going to have to respectfully disagree. While I do agree that researching prior to querying is important, sales records are a) not always reported, and b) not a good gauge for new agents, and c) not going to do you a darn bit of good if said agent is overwhelmed, has a different communication style than you, or any one of a dozen other things that aren't represented by how many books they have sold recently.

A good agent/author relationship requires communication, agreement on so many things that go above and beyond 'can you sell this one book', and often those things can only be established by actually talking to each other.