by Blythe Daniel @BlytheDaniel

Have you ever been tempted in social situations when someone asks, “What do you do”? to answer all the things you do in a given day? I would say (to help me think through what I do each day!): feed my family breakfast, help get water bottles filled, send the kids out the door to school with a hug, dishes, laundry, make coffee, exercise (when I’m not too busy inhaling coffee), make dinner, work through school solutions with my kids, send a lot of emails and conduct phone and Zoom calls.

But no one wants to hear that from you or me, do they? They want to know what type of career you and I are in.

Sometimes people turn their head sideways or squint, or lean in a little closer when I answer “I’m a literary agent.” Because that is not on the dropdown menu in most forms you fill out where you give your career! And often people don’t understand what it is we do.

We literary agents are a chatty bunch. We chat with publishers, authors, marketers, anyone who wants to share in an engaging conversation about publishing and the changes that affect us all.

If you were to ask a further question of “What does being a literary agent mean?” you’d get a number of different answers from agents. That’s because we’re all a little different with our approaches. But we all have one goal in mind: to get books published.

Many writers aren’t sure they need or want to work with an agent. They want to know how an agent will benefit them. What doors will they open, how can they get writers a contract (or a better one than they might get on their own), and how do agents help writers advance their writing careers. Those are just a few.

As a starting point, I’ve found it helpful to turn the questions back to the writer. Because when writers are looking for an agent, agents are becoming increasingly choosy about who they want to work with as a client.

So here are seven questions to ask yourself when you’re looking for an agent:

• Are you what an agent is looking for?
• How do you value an agent?
• Do you trust an agent to handle the affairs of your book?
• Do you agree to let the agent revise your book proposal?
• Are you looking for an agent to mentor you or you tell them what to do?
• If things don’t work out with your agent, do you commit to still handle your relationship with respect?
• Do you honor your agent’s time of working on your project around what’s best for the book and the agent’s schedule?

Agents need to be as careful about who they work with – who will be a good return on our investment of time and knowledge – from the start of collaborating to after the book’s publication. An agent doesn’t just stop becoming the author’s agent just because the book is sitting with an editor or marketing team inside a publisher, waiting for the day it comes out.

In fact, the real work of an agent becomes apparent when things start to look different than the author thought it would after their book is being reworked, reviewed by the editorial team, or when the author is not happy with the cover, doesn’t understand how the marketing plan is different from what they expected, and more. An agent is an advocate for the author (and works with the publisher too) in these areas.

So while it may be that you think an agent is only able to help you in the beginning of the process, you may want to consider how an agent can help you in the areas that you may not expect you need one. An agent’s wisdom and relationships can benefit you and that is part of what you have when you’re working with an agent.

But when agents have a number of opportunities to choose who they want to work with, are you who the agent is looking for? Have you asked an agent to lower their commission? Have you given an agent a list of parameters you want them to follow, making it unattractive for them to consider working with you? Do you show that you value the expertise and understanding that the agent brings to the process of publishing?

Agents are in this for the win-win: helping writers achieve their goals and enjoying the path to get there through our relationships, negotiating, and championing gifted authors.

So as you consider which agent is right for you, you may also want to consider if you are what the agent is looking for. Don’t be afraid to even ask that question so that we can all be honest about which relationships are best and the timing of those relationships as well. It will be a much better experience for everyone.

Instead of asking you, “What do you do?” I’m going to ask you, “Who do you see coming alongside what you do?” Agents, editors, already published authors, freelance editors – all of these individuals can be a great asset to you. Where should you start today bringing one of these along with you?

Blythe Daniel is a literary agent and marketer and has been in publishing for over 20 years. She has written for Proverbs 31 Ministries, Focus on the Family, Ann Voskamp, and Christian Retailing. She and her mother Dr. Helen McIntosh are the authors of Mended: Restoring the Hearts of Mothers and Daughters (Harvest House Publishers).

www.theblythedanielagency.com; www.ourmendedhearts.com