Is My Agent Still My Agent?
Featuring a Flow Chart!
Hi friends,
I talk to a lot of writers in various stages of representation, whether as a friend, a possible agent, or just offering advice, like in this newsletter. It’s not uncommon for me to hear something like well, I haven’t talked to my agent in a long time so they are probably not my agent anymore. Or something like, well, my agent couldn’t sell my last thing so I assumed they dropped me. And these things are incorrect! As you can see from my handy chart above (which I spent way too long making this morning because I have no graphic design skills and was using WORD for chrissakes)—your agent is still your agent until one of you formally and officially ends the relationship. Let’s talk a little more about what this means, when you should pay attention to it, and what you should do if you’re still confused. And if you don’t have an agent yet, read on so you already know if this ever happens to you and/or you can point someone in need to this helpful chart!
Know The Terms of Your Agreement
When you signed up with your agent, you got some kind of paperwork/email/letter with the terms of your relationship. It may have been a simple letter that said hey this is all the stuff we’re going to do with and for you or it may have been a formal contract that you both signed in blood, I mean ink. Either way, there is something that tells you about the term of the relationship, or how long that agent will be your agent. Here are some things your agency agreement could say:
That your relationship is on a book-to-book basis
That your relationship is active forever until one of you terminates it in writing
That if you terminate it, you can’t try to sell anything for 6 mos (or something) after termination (I KNOW!!!)
That your relationship is active for some other specific time period
(For those of you with no agent yet or looking for a new one—this might be something you can negotiate! Especially those last two points!)
Know Your Termination Clause
Ok, so you have a better idea of the term of your agreement, now you have to look for the part that says how you end your agreement. This is the Termination Clause. It may be labeled as such, or say something like “this agreement shall remain in effect until….” The part after the until is what you need to do to end your agent relationship, or to tell if an agent as ended things with you. In many cases, you just have to send your agent a letter or email (and sometimes if it says registered letter, an email still works, but do what your agency agreement says) that says something like “Hey, thanks for all your help but I’m going to take a different path with my writing career. Best regards, Author.” Prior to this point, I hope you have a conversation with your agent about what you need if those needs aren’t being met, or if you have other questions, but if you know you’re done with that agent, send a kind letter and that’s that. This is a business relationship, and while there are definitely feelings involved on both sides, you are not saying FUCK OFF YOU STUPID IDIOT when you leave your agent, even if you worry it will feel that way. Just be direct and kind.
Maybe you got an email or letter like this from your agent. Hopefully it was not out of the blue. You may or may not have seen it coming, and I hope the agent was kind and direct, too. You do have the right to ask questions and talk more about it, but just like you can’t really (and probably shouldn’t) talk your way back into a romantic relationship if someone is trying to break up with you, you probably can’t talk your way back into being represented by them. And you probably don’t want to. Go find someone who enthusiastically wants to be your agent.
NOTE: Even if your specific agent has moved to another agency or left the biz YOUR AGREEMENT IS STILL IN EFFECT! It does not automatically terminate if they go away! Even if it’s been 5 years! Check your agency agreement!
So, What Now?
Say it’s been a long time since you talked to your agent, for any number of reasons—you did one book and there wasn’t an immediate, obvious follow up, life got in the way and you had to take a break from writing, your book didn’t sell that great and you’re licking your wounds—and now you need to do something about it. Maybe you have a new idea and you don’t think it’s right for your agent. Maybe you weren’t that happy with the relationship in the end. Maybe someone approached you for a book and you don’t think it “counts” toward what your agents works on with you (WRONG! It counts!). Maybe you’re working with another writer and that person has an agent sooooooooooooo. IN ANY CASE, if you have an agent and you haven’t sent/received a letter ending your relationship, then they are still your agent, and you have to take some kind of action. You can:
Talk to them about your new project and see if they’re interested in it
Talk to them about your new project and see if YOU’RE interested in working with them
Talk to them about any needs that weren’t previously met and see they can address them
Talk to them about any needs that weren’t met and decide to end the relationship anyway
Send them a termination letter and thank them for all their hard work etc
The thing you SHOULDN’T do is just ghost them and then go sell another book and then maybe they find out about it when they see the deal announcement and GEE ISN’T THAT A SURPRISE. On the other side, too, an agent should contact a client they absolutely know they no longer want to work with and terminate the agreement with grace and professionalism. Yes, it is hard to send these letters—for both parties!!—but it is a business relationship and should be handled as such, with an abundance of kindness and care.
Don’t forget: your agent can’t read your mind. They don’t know you’re mad because something didn’t go your way or they don’t email you enough or you didn’t know about a thing and you feel you should have known about a thing. If you need something from your agent TELL THEM. We’re just people doing a job. We don’t have magical powers.
SO! That’s how you know if your agent is still your agent. I hope this helps. Forward this to anyone you think might need it!
VOTE FOR BIDEN/HARRIS AND NOT THAT TAX-EVADING CROOK!
OXOXO
K