A literary agent essentially assists authors in selling their books to publishers. But this basic definition doesn’t take into account all the other hats agents wear that help authors further their careers. When I hear people dismiss agents because they take 15% of an author’s advance and royalties, I know they don’t know the full range of tasks that agents do on behalf of their clients. Yes, authors can be published traditionally without an agent (although many publishers only accept submissions from agents) or publish independently, as there is value in an agent for many authors.
If it’s true that the best way to make a decision is by having all the information, then knowing the full scope of how an agent can help an author is necessary for authors in deciding how they want to get their book into the world.
Agents are:
Editors
An agent decides to represent your book because they believe it can be sold to a publisher, but that doesn’t mean the agent thinks it’s ready to go. In fact, part of the decision an agent makes when considering a book is how much work it will need to get it ready for submission to a publisher. If the writing and premise are good, but not executed well, the agent might reject it or perhaps send it back telling the author to revise and rewrite (R&R). But if it’s close to being ready for a publisher, the agent may offer representation and then the work begins to make the improvements.
The advantages of having an agent that edits are (1) a developmental edit and proofread to submit the best book possible, (2) specific suggestions that make the book marketable based on what the agent knows is selling, and (3) tips to improve your writing. This isn’t something the agent bills for (if an agent asks for money for editing, be suspicious). Agents give this time, investing in you and your book with the belief that your book will sell.
Note that agents don’t force writers to change their books. But if an agent is suggesting a change, it’s usually because they believe it’s something that will make the book more appealing to a publisher.
Databases
Agents have easier access to publishers, but it’s more than having a list of who publishes what. While a publisher might publish mystery, only one editor in the company might take noir mysteries. Some editors have very specific wants and don’t-wants that are only known through an agent’s experience in working with them.
Some editors leave one publisher and go to another, which agents keep track of. Agents talk to each other and share information about which editors are responding quickly and who aren’t, or what they want more or less of at any given time.
And of course, with this database, agents have connections with editors. Part of what an agent does is develop relationships with editors, partly to keep up on what they want, but also so that the editor will pay attention to what the agent sends.
Access
This is covered some in the Databases section above, but this access also includes the ability to submit multiple manuscripts, something frowned upon when submitting without an agent. Agents have telephone numbers and direct emails to editors. This isn’t limited to submissions. I recently emailed an editor to learn if they would except a book set in Australia so I could let my author know whether she needed to change her book’s setting to be considered by the publisher.
Educators/Mentors
The publishing industry, like most industries, has its own lingo and rules. An agent will help you navigate through the publishing pipeline (it’s longer in to-dos and time than you might think). Essentially, an agent is there to lead through the publishing maze, offering support, information, and encouragement. They also especially enjoy working with authors who want to make a career out of writing or at the very least plan to write several books. They’ll work with you on how to best grow your writing career.
Project Managers
What many authors don’t know is that there are a lot of moving parts to getting published. When the book is sold, the agent will continue to be involved making sure the book project is moving forward. It can take weeks for a contract to be sent once the editor makes an offer and the author accepts. The agent stays on top of this. The agent will check the contract to make sure any changes requested are included. They will track important dates to help the author meet the deadline to get the manuscript to the publisher. They also check book sales numbers, making sure the author is getting paid per the contract, including amount and frequency.
Counselors
The publishing industry can be a frustrating one. An agent knows this and is ready and willing to be an ear to unload to or a shoulder to cry on. When you’re frustrated, confused, or even excited, your agent is there to help you through it.
Negotiators
Most publishers have standard contracts, and while many don’t offer much wiggle room, some do. I have a client who signed a contract on her own (without an agent) that was so bad and nebulous, we were worried they owned every work of hers forever. An agent would have caught this and asked for a change (e.g., first right of refusal for next book in that genre, not every book in the publisher’s genre, including imprints, forever). Agents can ask that you retain some rights so they can be sold later potentially for a better deal, such as foreign or movie rights. They can sometimes negotiate a higher advance, if the publisher offers one.
Mediators
Once a book is sold, the author and editor begin connecting to prep the book for publication. But keeping your agent in the loop means you have your advocate ready if or when issues arise. As an author, I once told my agent I didn’t want to talk to an editor anymore because I didn’t like how she spoke to me (I sometimes wondered why she bought the book). Luckily, I had an agent to act on my behalf and the book, plus two other books were published.
Do you need an agent to get your book published? No. But just like a real estate agent can handle the complexities of selling or buying a house, a literary agent can do the same, allowing the author to focus on writing their next book, while the agent handles submission prep and querying to multiple editors specifically picked for the book, contract negotiations, understanding royalty statements, and more.
Leslie Truex is a literary agent with Blue Ridge Literary Agency and an author coach. She began her writing career by accident after starting a career website in 1998 that resulted in a freelance writing career and two traditionally published nonfiction books. However, Leslie’s passion lies in writing fiction. She is the author of a dozen romance and mystery novels using a pen name. Leslie enjoys sharing her insights and experiences to help emerging authors get their books published. She also supports authors through her online community for romance writers and coaching to both fiction and nonfiction authors. Leslie has spoken and provided workshops as an author and agent at a host of events, including The Virginia Festival of the Book, Malice Domestic, Maryland Writers Association, The Virginia Writers Club, as an adjunct at Piedmont Virginia Community College, and more, and she is the former president of The Virginia Writers Club.
The audiobook market is one of the fastest-growing segments of the publishing industry. According to the Audio Publishers Association, it grew an estimated 24.5% from 2017 to 2018. This included self-published authors and small publishers who access numerous marketing actions and opportunities to create and an awareness and enhance sales. And think of the millions of people who drive to and from work each day many listen to audiobooks. They are just one audience since people can listen anywhere, anytime. Following are the major elements involved in producing and marketing an audiobook.
Marcia Rosen (aka M. Glenda Rosen) is the author of 10 books including the Dying To Be Beautiful Mystery Series, The Gourmet Gangster: Mysteries and Menus (which she wrote with her son Jory Rosen and was a 2021 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards winner) and The Senior Sleuths. She is also the author of The Woman’s Business Therapist and award winning My Memoir Workbook. For 25 years, Marcia was owner of a successful national marketing and public relations agency and also facilitated numerous writing programs. She continues to work with aspiring author clients, providing manuscript reviews and advising them on book development and marketing, as well as writing articles, appearing on author blogs, and presenting writing programs on Zoom and in person. Marcia was co-presenter of “About Being an Author” for The National Steinbeck Center. She is a member of Sisters in Crime Albuquerque (2022 vice president), Southwest Writers, Women Writing the West, Central Coast Writers, New Mexico Book Association, Public Safety Writer’s Association, and National Association of Independent Writers and Editors — for which Marcia is also a current board member.
Your first sentence, your first paragraph, should grab your reader . . . maybe even by the throat, like a good murder!
According to a 2022 Gallup 
Stephen (“Steve”) Colwell is the founder of Clarify Media and Completing, one specializing in marketing and brand strategy for B2B and B2C firms; the other focused on growth operations training and consulting for teams seeking more scalable ways of operating. Steve brings 15+ years experience leading high-performing creative, technical, and operations teams across the globe. A certified Agile practitioner and Fractional CMO, Steve helps teams of all types and sizes save time and accelerate growth by implementing the same proven methods and routines practiced by today’s top-performing companies. Steve has helped national and global brands in technology, healthcare, education, finance, consumer goods, travel, entertainment, blockchain, and a number of other industries.
Are you hoping your well-thought-out social media content brings in new customers? Why not increase your chances by spending a bit of time understanding your target audience. One technique, taught throughout graduate-level marketing courses in academia and widely practiced by top ad agencies and PR firms, is to create target personas. A persona, or a fictional character created to represent your target audience, can be embedded into facts and stats and all that fancy quantitative data many of us love to employ. But by adding the qualitative element to your research — the persona — you will indirectly be humanizing your brand to, you guessed it, attract more human customers.
Ashley Henyan is a digital marketing consultant, a freelance writer, and the communications director for the American Red Cross of the National Capital & Greater Chesapeake region. Previously, she held leadership roles in digital communications and media relations with the Red Cross in Los Angeles and Atlanta. Ashley has developed curriculum and trained hundreds of staff and volunteers across the United States in courses like Leveraging Your Story on LinkedIn and Social Media Story Telling. She has been invited to discuss social media marketing and brand visibility on various podcasts and with local and national associations. Ashley has played an integral part in award-winning social media campaigns including honorable mention recognition with the PR Daily Content Marketing Awards and numerous Silver Telly Awards for Branded Content. She holds a B.A. in government and politics from the University of Maryland and an M.A. in English and creative writing with a concentration in screenwriting from Southern New Hampshire University, and an MFA in creative writing from Southern New Hampshire University. Ashley’s work as a ghostwriter has appeared in national and international publications including Yahoo News, China Global Television Network, and The CEO Magazine.
In the 2000s, there have been several recessions: 2001, 2007–09, and 2020. Depending on your definition and which economists you listen to, it’s possible we’re in one right now or could be heading into one next year. I still feel sick to my stomach when I think back to 2001. I’d been in business for myself for two years, and everything was going great . . . till it wasn’t. Client budgets dried up and my phone stopped ringing. I knew I wasn’t going back to a corporate job, however, so I needed to hustle and figure it out. Here are a few of the ways that I have built my business up so that the ’07–’09 and ’20 recessions had far less impact on my freelance income.
Jake Poinier made the leap into freelance writing and editing in 1999 after a decade of positions in the publishing industry, giving him key insights from both sides of the desk. As the founder and owner of Boomvang Creative Group, he has worked with a diverse array of Fortune 500 and small businesses, consumer and trade magazines, and independent authors. Jake is committed to helping freelancers improve their businesses and shares his knowledge and experiences frequently as a speaker at industry conferences, through webinars, and on his blog.
Let’s take this question from the 30,000-foot view for now and ask the bigger question, how does anyone sell more of anything? It comes from a conversation expressing a need and finding a solution. Whether your need is to have your battery replaced in your car or the need to buy a gallon of milk, you identify the pain point and offer the solution. Not everyone will have the same need, so not everyone will be interested in your book. The key is knowing your target audience and reaching them on an emotional level.
Suzanne Lynn Cheesman has been in radio for the last 25 years, in New Jersey, South Dakota, Minnesota, Missouri, and Florida as well as having hosted her own nationally syndicated show. She now runs a digital media company that helps authors sell more books and build their brand with video and radio interviews. She currently hosts the Triangle Spotlight radio show on WQBQ 1410-AM, a Central Florida radio station that has a coverage area of half a million people. On this show, you can hear authors from around the country and around the world share their heart behind the writing of their books.
Nicole Evelina is a USA Today bestselling author and biographer who writes historical fiction, non-fiction, and women’s fiction. Her six books have won more than 40 awards, including four Book of the Year designations. Nicole was named Missouri’s Top Independent Author by Library Journal and Biblioboard as the winner of the Missouri Indie Author Project in 2018 and has been awarded the North Street Book Prize and the Sarton Women’s Book Award. One of her novels, Madame Presidentess, was previously optioned for film. She also has four non-fiction books due to be published from 2022–2024.
Laura Pennington Briggs is the founder and CEO of the Freelance Coach. A two-time TEDx speaker on how freelancing is changing the economy and the host of the weekly Advanced Freelancing podcast, Laura has helped over 15,000 freelancers start and scale their business. She’s an expert on systems, project and client management, marketing a solopreneur business, delegating to team members, retainers, and developing multiple income streams for writers of all stripes. Laura is the author of five books, including the Six Figure Freelancer and How to Start Your Own Freelance Writing Business. She’s also the founder of Operation Freelance, a national nonprofit providing free entrepreneurship training to military spouses worldwide.
Yateendra Joshi, has been copyediting scientific and technical documents for more than 30 years and helps researchers and academics get published in high-impact-factor journals. Certified as a master editor by the Board of Editors in the Life Sciences — only 30 editors worldwide have been thus recognized so far — and a former researcher himself, Yateen has taught full-semester courses on technical writing, has conducted more than 30 shorter training programs, and as many webinars from March 2020 to December 2021 on successful submissions to high-impact-factor journals. Yateen is a member of the editorial board of Information Design Journal, was elected for the second term (2021–2023) as a member of the council of the European Association of Science Editors, and is a professional member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading. His book, Communicating in Style, was favorably reviewed by a dozen international journals and newsletters, and the late John le Carré called it “A gem. Courteous, unfrightening and essential. A perfect companion to Fowler’s A Dictionary of Modern English Usage for today’s communicators.”