Revoking Representation?

Status
Not open for further replies.

Iforgotthis

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 9, 2014
Messages
59
Reaction score
1
Location
England
Hi,
I'm in the submission phase, and haven't found the right agent yet (although, I think I'm on the right tracks). I've had this sort of growing worry recently that and agent will accept my query and represent my book. Although that doesn't sound too bad, what if they decide after a few weeks/months that the book isn't for them, or it won't sell, or it was a mistake to accept the offer?
If I got accepted, I'd feel pretty excited and probably tell people. And then if they dropped the book I'd be humiliated, as well as distraught and all that. Can an agent decide to stop representing an author once they say yes? More importantly, how often does that happen? I hope it's not too common, but you never know.

Sorry for freaking out like this, and so suddenly, it's just I have no idea how all this works. Hope somebody out there can answer this!

Thanks for your time :)
 

Maryn

Sees All
Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
55,447
Reaction score
25,474
Location
Snow Cave
I'm not repped by an agent, so this is just what I've heard others say. Worst-case scenario, you sign with an agent, s/he cannot interest publishers in your book. But that doesn't mean s/he "fires" you. Instead, you'll get his or her professional input on what about the book might have been the reason s/he couldn't sell it, and encouragement to write another, better book.

Most agents are invested in their clients for the long haul and won't sign you if they don't think there's a good chance they can sell what you write.

Occasionally someone will have a contract with an agent who doesn't seem to be trying hard enough, or who won't share where s/he's subbed the book, that sort of thing. Those are the agents the writer "fires" however the contract allows.

Maryn, fingers crossed for you
 

Calla Lily

On hiatus
Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
39,307
Reaction score
17,490
Location
Non carborundum illegitimi
Website
www.aliceloweecey.net
You're borrowing trouble. It's possibly agent hunt stress. Don't do this to yourself.

Check out the Ask the Agent room for threads on what questions to ask an agent who offers rep. Asking the right questions is the way to alleviate some of the stress.
 

Fuchsia Groan

Becoming a laptop-human hybrid
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 27, 2008
Messages
2,870
Reaction score
1,399
Location
The windswept northern wastes
Ask the Agent is great for finding a whole range of stories and experiences. They run the gamut.

I got dumped/fired by an agent who couldn't sell my first book and didn't like my second. The whole process was friendly and civil, but it hurt. While this certainly happens, it seems more common (just from what I've read here on AW) for agents to stick with the writer.

Two days after I got dumped, I started writing a new book. I was determined to get something positive out of the experience. Fast-forward a year, and that book has a new agent who vows not to give up so easily.

So, even if it happens, it's not the end of the world. I can think of several writers on this board who made their first sales while on their second agents. If your writing attracted one agent, it can probably attract another.

If you do get an agent, note how long the contract is for. My first one was for exactly a year with the possibility of extension. So basically, my agent didn't fire me so much as just opt not to extend.

ETA: I have not heard of representation being "revoked" after just weeks or months, before submission to publishers. (Wait, maybe one case. It's in Ask the Agent somewhere. The writer quickly found new representation.) I have read of cases where the agent just stopped communicating, or left the agency without telling the writer. Which sucks, but is no reflection on you.
 
Last edited:

Phaeal

Whatever I did, I didn't do it.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 11, 2008
Messages
9,232
Reaction score
1,897
Location
Providence, RI
Breathe. Research any agent who bites, bone up on the questions to ask during the "phone call," when rep has been offered or is about to be. I found Elizabeth Lyon's Sell-Your-Novel Toolkit to be a good source of info, and it includes a whole list of questions to feel out the agent's fit with your goals.
 

Jamesaritchie

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 13, 2005
Messages
27,863
Reaction score
2,311
What can I say? It happens. It happens pretty often, in fact. Some agents do sever the contract bond wjen they can't sell a book. More will do so if they can't sell a second or a third book.

So what? It's no reason to be humiliated, it's just a reason to take what you've learned, write a new book, and find a new agent. You'll be in good company. It's happened to many who went on to be successful.
 

Iforgotthis

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 9, 2014
Messages
59
Reaction score
1
Location
England
Calla Lily- I'll make sure to check around, it probably is just stress...

Fuchsia Groan- D: I'm sorry to hear that! I've always seen getting the agent as the first step, and the idea of losing an agent is terrifying, almost like a step backwards. But your right, 'there's always more fish in the sea'.

Phaeal- *Breathes deeply* right, I'll definitely look at that.

Jamesaritchie- I suppose you're right, it's just such a scary thought! This is like waiting for exam results; you have that nervous excited feeling mixed with anticipation for glorious success and overwhelming failure.
 

Heathertruett

Wordy Girl
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 18, 2013
Messages
559
Reaction score
22
Location
Olive Branch, MS
Website
www.madamerubies.com
If it happens, you survive. You keep writing. You look for a new agent.


I just split from my agent of 2 years. Amicably. I can't say enough good things about the man, but he never loved my new projects, just that first one he signed me for. And it didn't sell. We did rewrites and took feedback and heard AMAZING things from editors, but it was, in the end, "too quiet."

Its quietness was what he loved about it.

My current project is anything but quiet.

We agreed to go our separate ways. I gained so much from the experience.

So, when you sign with an agent, be prepared to learn all sorts of new things and grow as a writer. If the relationship ends, you will still have all that experience you couldn't have gotten in any class or conference.
 

Erin Latimer

Stay in and write.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 12, 2011
Messages
322
Reaction score
10
Location
Vancouver, BC
If it happens, you survive. You keep writing. You look for a new agent.


I just split from my agent of 2 years. Amicably. I can't say enough good things about the man, but he never loved my new projects, just that first one he signed me for. And it didn't sell. We did rewrites and took feedback and heard AMAZING things from editors, but it was, in the end, "too quiet."

Its quietness was what he loved about it.

My current project is anything but quiet.

We agreed to go our separate ways. I gained so much from the experience.

So, when you sign with an agent, be prepared to learn all sorts of new things and grow as a writer. If the relationship ends, you will still have all that experience you couldn't have gotten in any class or conference.

So strange. I had an almost identical experience.

And to the OP, it can happen, but it really isn't the end of the world. If you do get an offer, go into it with a realistic but positive attitude. IE: I COULD sell this book, I hope I do. But if i don't, I'm just going to keep writing.

I've (very slowly) learned to be positive, but also prepared for things to fall through. That's the nature of the industry. It's a lot of hurry up and wait, and a lot of "this exciting thing might happen - oh, it didn't."

The key is to keep writing because you love writing, not because you want to be famous or get published. It's about your attitude going in to things :D

Good luck with your agent search!
 

Fuchsia Groan

Becoming a laptop-human hybrid
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 27, 2008
Messages
2,870
Reaction score
1,399
Location
The windswept northern wastes
I've (very slowly) learned to be positive, but also prepared for things to fall through. That's the nature of the industry. It's a lot of hurry up and wait, and a lot of "this exciting thing might happen - oh, it didn't."

So true at every stage of the process. I'm still struggling to develop the right upbeat-yet-stoic attitude. I always knew I was in it for the writing, but something weird happens when you start seeing the possibility of being paid for your labor of love hovering almost within your grasp.

Basically, you can't rely on any agent (or any reader, period) to love everything you write. You have to be the advocate for your writing and find someone who wants to represent it — or, if you can't, write something new or self-publish. Positive reinforcement from industry pros feels amazing (I'd almost compare it to a drug), but writers can't survive on that alone. The highs are always followed by lows when someone doesn't have the reaction you hoped for.
 

Heathertruett

Wordy Girl
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 18, 2013
Messages
559
Reaction score
22
Location
Olive Branch, MS
Website
www.madamerubies.com
So true at every stage of the process. I'm still struggling to develop the right upbeat-yet-stoic attitude. I always knew I was in it for the writing, but something weird happens when you start seeing the possibility of being paid for your labor of love hovering almost within your grasp.

Basically, you can't rely on any agent (or any reader, period) to love everything you write. You have to be the advocate for your writing and find someone who wants to represent it — or, if you can't, write something new or self-publish. Positive reinforcement from industry pros feels amazing (I'd almost compare it to a drug), but writers can't survive on that alone. The highs are always followed by lows when someone doesn't have the reaction you hoped for.


A drug! Yes! I was thinking about similar today. There are certain comments and incidents from having my book out on sub over the last two years… I return to them for little highs now and again, when I'm feeling discouraged.
 

Heathertruett

Wordy Girl
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 18, 2013
Messages
559
Reaction score
22
Location
Olive Branch, MS
Website
www.madamerubies.com
So strange. I had an almost identical experience.


The key is to keep writing because you love writing, not because you want to be famous or get published. It's about your attitude going in to things :D


I'm beginning to think it is a fairly common situation. I suppose that makes sense. There are writers that could write a grocery list, and I'd love every word, but there are other writers I love one book by and am underwhelmed by thereafter. I suppose agents are no different.
 

Erin Latimer

Stay in and write.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 12, 2011
Messages
322
Reaction score
10
Location
Vancouver, BC
I'm beginning to think it is a fairly common situation. I suppose that makes sense. There are writers that could write a grocery list, and I'd love every word, but there are other writers I love one book by and am underwhelmed by thereafter. I suppose agents are no different.

True. Even for famous writers you never know if the book will be an amazing success, or totally flop.

Or occasionally something will change about the agent (life or career transitions maybe) and they'll become less interested in you in general.

This stuff happens all the time.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.