Agent prejudice against older first-time writers?

Nope. If the book is written well enough, I doubt it makes any difference.

I don't know the truth of what agents think, but I know what I want them to think; that age is no barrier.

Indeed as folk regularly live into their eighties these days it seems fifty-five leaves a lot to run at. Granted I know that efficacy in most things begins to fade as you get older, but I imagine effectiveness continuing at least into the mid-sixties. There will be writers here who can attest to even greater effective longevity I expect.

But what one wants to be true is not the way the world is; ageism is one of the more common and most tolerated of "'isms". There is some sign of it changing, and to a degree one can understand say a thirty-five year old agent wanting a thirty-five year old author for thirty years (or more) of happy publishing.

I feel and think that age should not be a factor, however it is in most jobs implicitly or explicitly. Clearly this agent thinks so; it's unlikely the author picked the unique ageist agent, hence there is almost certainly some truth in "the suggestion that agents regard the first book of older writers with disfavour."

The collective wisdom of AW is a great aggregator towards most probable truth.

When I first started writing, I and others were told that we were too young to write compelling stories--I've found that opinion had steadily died off in recent years.

Too old is something else. Most people spend years working on their writing and storytelling crafts, so it's expected them to be older. And, like Bufty said, agents/editors/publishers/readers don't care.

How will they know your age?

Layla Nahar said:

How will they know your age?

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I suppose if you put something in your bio along the lines of 'John Smith has been publishing short stories in various outlets for thirty years and...' or perhaps their name for better or worse was overwhelmingly popular for a particular demographic, then later dwindled (like the name Jennifer - much more common, it seems, among forty-somethings than early-twenty-somethings).

I'd tend to take a big grain of salt with any advice that both has a clear commercial agenda, and refers to self-publishing as being "independently published".

So many people are starting new careers when they're near "retirement age", it's hard to believe a good agent would consider 55 too old. (Of course, since I'll be 54 this year, I may be prejudiced.)

Layla Nahar said:

How will they know your age?

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Ditto. I don't see how it would come up.

I mean, with very young writers, it's going to come up if they're not old enough to enter an agreement with an agent on their own.

Otherwise, I have no clue how your age would come up in conversation if you don't want it to. Especially when so many people look older or younger than they actually are.

I'd also be very wary of advice that goes along the lines of "some agent said this to me." Which one? Can you point to the blog post or interview where it was said? Do other agents agree with this attitude?

Sounds like someone wanted to whine about how 'orrible agents and traditional publishing is and found a reason.

I signed my first contract with Samhain when I was 45ish. They didn't sneer at me. When I signed with Carina they sure didn't look at me and sigh about my limited life-span.

Again, sounds to me like he wasn't willing to accept that his writing might be the issue... so blame it on this imagined bias.

JMO.

They care because they don't expect us to live long enough to develop a lucrative career.

Don't know what the laws are in the UK, but an agent operating in the US wouldn't dare say something like that, even if it were true. Does sound suspiciously like sour grapes...

I think you were jesting, but 'lucrative' is subjective and doesn't necessarily equate to longevity or career.

WriteMinded said:

They care because they don't expect us to live long enough to develop a lucrative career.

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I'd love to say it's untrue, that the quality of the work trumps all...but just recently I ran across a post by literary agent Janet Reid in which she says exactly what the OP claims: that she would disinclined to take on an older writer because she's looking for clients who'll be productive for many years to come.

I'd suggest that when querying, older writers should not lead with their age...The trouble is, if you have a serious online presence, including a bio, they'll find out your approximate age when they google you. Then you have to just hope that your book is irresistible despite your "advanced age."

Barbara R. said:

I'd love to say it's untrue, that the quality of the work trumps all...but just recently I ran across a post by literary agent Janet Reid in which she says exactly what the OP claims: that she would disinclined to take on an older writer because she's looking for clients who'll be productive for many years to come.

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Barbara, do you happen to have a link to that post? I follow her blog some, but I haven't seen anything like that recently. In fact, I've seen posts encouraging older writers to query, so I'm confused now.

heza said:

Barbara, do you happen to have a link to that post? I follow her blog some, but I haven't seen anything like that recently. In fact, I've seen posts encouraging older writers to query, so I'm confused now.

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I just spent 15 minutes trying to find it and couldn't, though I found one post encouraging older writers to query--nor her, necessarily, but to query.

But I know I saw it, because I was surprised and taken aback. I know Janet a bit, and she's been incredibly supportive of my last book even though she's not my agent---she live-tweeted during her reading of it and probably sold more copies than Viking's whole marketing department. Would like to say I'm wrong, but it struck me at the time because it didn't sound like her. She's one of the nicest people I know in the industry.

Barbara R. said:

I just spent 15 minutes ...

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I think I found it. Is that the one?

Not encouraging, on the face of it, but she does go on to say you just don't mention your age in the query and that she never asks about age before she signs someone.

I don't find her honest comments in any way discouraging.

What she's saying in essence is 'allow me to make my decision based upon the writing without you first unnecessarily drawing my attention to your age'.

Bufty said:

I don't find her honest comments in any way discouraging.

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I don't think it's the barrier to publishing some people worry it might be, but I do find it discouraging, on general principle, that it's a thing at all. I'd feel similarly if an agent said, honestly, "Don't mention in the query that you're a woman or a racial minority."

I appreciate her honesty in the comment and her willingness to work with good authors, whatever their ages. I know this issue is a reality for older authors and agents, alike; I just wish there wasn't a knee-jerk reaction to age in, basically, a lot of professions.

Sadly, ageism exists at both ends of the spectrum. Often subtle, or deliberately hidden (wherever illegal), it is nonetheless a factual consideration in assessing a potential client's likely commercial viability. In publishing, longevity isn't just about life span, but how long a writer's wits remain acute enough to produce a marketable product. Talent notwithstanding, agents are well aware that such long term fiscal potential is inversely proportionate to age. Never forget this is a business - sometimes harsh, but always true.

I don't see this - if you write nothing new for years the Agent isn't going to be twiddling their fingers waiting for you, no matter how old or young you are.

Since your age is one more thing you can't control, why worry about it? Query the hell out of your work anyway. A 20 year old could die of cancer two years later. A thirty year old could get run over by an ice cream truck the next day. A forty year old could have the one book in him and never produce another. A sixty year old could live to write a dozen and more new books.

If I were an agent, I'd have to go with what was certain: I liked what was in front of me.

Bufty said:

I don't see this - if you write nothing new for years the Agent isn't going to be twiddling their fingers waiting for you, no matter how old or young you are.

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?

I'm lost. When did we start talking about this with regard to a gap in a writing career? I thought this was about older writers starting a career.

My first commercially published novel (the first of a three-book series) came out when I was fifty-two, and my agent knew EXACTLY how old I was. Now I'm sixty-two, with a few more published novels under my belt, and still going.

Does starting older help or hurt a writer? I dunno. It hasn't hurt me. YMMV