“Talking of agents, when I opened the morning paper one morning last week I saw that it had finally happened: somebody shot one. It was probably for the wrong reasons, but at least it was a step in the right direction.” – Raymond Chandler, The Raymond Chandler Papers
Years ago I was teaching at one of the biggest writers conferences in the country. In addition to the conferees, this one always featured an abundance of top editors, agents, and faculty.
This particular year, a new agent was present. He had been an editor at one of the larger publishers, and was now hanging up his agent shingle. As the conference went on, I started to pick up a ripple of excitement among many of the newbies. They were giddy and saying things like, “I just got an agent!” and “He requested a full!” The bottom line was that a large number of brand-spanking new, unpublished writers came away from the conference believing they had a champion to escort them through the gates of the Forbidden City.
A year or so later the agent quit. It turns out his method was to sign as many as he could and throw their proposals out like so much wet spaghetti, hoping some would stick to the walls of the City. Not one deal was made. My surmise is that the powers inside the walls knew a “schmagent” (shady, ineffectual agent) when they saw one.
The real bottom line was that all these young writers were cast to the winds, a precious year wasted in their quest to get published.
I’ve always said having no agent is better than having a bad agent. And it is well known that anyone can call themselves a literary agent. There is no agent exam or licensing requirement.
Back in the days when proposals were submitted on actual paper (which meant printing and mailing costs), and industry relationships were formed in and around New York City (which meant office space), there was a hefty barrier to entry to the agent game. In today’s digital world, a cheap website is all you need to get started. Want to be an agent tomorrow? Get a Wix and start trolling.
According to industry expert Jane Friedman:
However you measure it, I find more literary agents operating today than in decades prior. The Guide to Literary Agents directory, published since 1995, started with about 400 listings. The most recent edition, released in 2021, had about 1,000. According to my own reporting, the number of new agents announced per year in 2023, 2024, and 2025 was at least double the number announced in 2022. If you look at the number of contacts in Publishers Marketplace that carry the agent label, there are more than 3,000, although not all of them have reported deals. The number of Publishers Marketplace editors? About 3,800.
This means there are a goodly number of schmagents, too. Without top-line clients, how are they making money? By charging writers for editorial services. This used to be frowned upon, but recently the Association of American Literary Agents (AALA) revised its Canon of Ethics to loosen restrictions. Before the revision, agents were allowed to charge for editorial services to non-clients, but were required to reimburse those costs if they signed the writer as a client. Not anymore. Friedman:
Instead, reimbursement is subject to “mutual agreement” between the agent and prospective client. What I fear: Agents may charge non-clients for editorial work knowing very well they may make an offer of representation and have no intention of returning the money. This would be a straight-forward way to get compensated for what they’re not supposed to charge for. (I do think authors will readily agree to let the agent keep the editing money if representation is on the table.)
And this:
A big part of the problem is that writers have always cared too much about what agents think. Even people with good business sense tend to lose critical-thinking skills when offered representation and have a hard time recognizing that lackluster representation can be more harmful than no representation. Less scrupulous agents already take advantage of writers’ deep desire to be validated or discovered. I fear these changes will only fuel such behavior.
The glittering lights of the Forbidden City still burn bright for many writers (brighter than the innumerable campfires in the forests of the indie world). This despite fewer deals, fewer spaces, lower advances, and tighter contracts. The bright lights are analogous to Las Vegas. Exciting, with a chance to win big (auction, Netflix series, Good Morning America!).
But how many gamblers come away from Vegas with a big score? About as many as writers who make the A-list. But if that’s your dream, at least make sure your agent is not a schamgent.
- Look at their website. It should have a list of clients who are actually published. Research several of those clients on Amazon. See who publishes them and what their sales rank is. Scammers are getting quite sophisticated at putting up pretty websites with no substance behind them.
- Legit agents don’t make unsolicited offers to unpublished writers, by way of email or social media.
- Legit agents do not charge a “reading fee” to consider your proposal.
- It must be made clear by the agent that any paid services do not imply or guarantee future representation. This must be explicit in a written agreement.
- Search the name at Writer Beware.
All that said, this is not to cast aspersions on agents as a whole. I do believe most operate in good faith. They have to make a living, too, in these most challenging of times. Income from services and third-party referrals can be a benefit so long as the terms of the arrangement are made clear up front, and do not imply a possible offer of representation.
And another thing should be clear: your glasses. Remove the rose-colored tint. This is a business, not a flowery meadow. Your homework: read this article by Jane Friedman.
Comments welcome.
Two agents I know of offered paid courses in writing, in addition to their agenting. I felt this set up a conflict of interest, but perhaps I was wrong. My hackles had already risen for these agents:
One wanted me and my writing partner to take on a contract for a book similar to ours that a third writer was unable to complete. The writer had already received half the advance. He was offering to split the other half with us. The agent knew we’d signed an agreement not to work on such a competing project for two years.
A different agent was participating in a “meet the agent” feature at a writing conference. She was billed as having represented a book of a particular genre. I signed up ($20) for 15 minutes to sit down with her. When my time arrived, I pitched my book of that same genre. She informed me she only represented works in that genre with female MCs. When a lady writer at the conference later met with the same agent, the agent told her she only represented novels in that genre with juvenile MCs!
Man, that chaps my hide. At the very least, speed dating agents at conferences should come with explicit terms of what they’ll represent, and doubly so if writers are being charged for this extra “benefit.”
When I first started out, I bit on sending money to have my manuscript “edited” by an agent for “X” amount of money. When I received the edit back, there were a couple of comments, and then, for more money, I could have a more in-depth edit. I passed, and never bit again.
Terrible!
I was surprised when I read the part of the post about the number of agents increasing, since I would have thought that with the proliferation of self-publishing, the numbers would go down, but then it made since when you described new services some agents are adding.
Honestly I haven’t spent any time considering agents. With the way publishing has changed, I don’t really see much benefit to the traditional publishing route so I don’t need anyone to help me pound on their doors trying to get in.
If the need arose for an agent, I at least know of one agency I would try first because I’m familiar with them and they seem to be a consistent presence over time.
I’m sure it isn’t easy to be an agent in this constantly changing publishing world.
Always best if you have familiarity with an agent or agency. When meeting with agents at a conference, my advice has always been don’t be dull, don’t be desperate, and don’t waste their time. Be professional about it.
I met my first agent at a conference. She had a good reputation and repped several authors I knew. She requested a full manuscript and read it in one sitting at the beauty shop. She called me from there (before cell phones), excited and offeried representation. Straight to the moon (I thought).
Unbeknownst to me, about that same time, she fell off the wagon big-time. She started embezzling from her partner and keeping royalties that were due her clients.
Fortunately she didn’t sell my book. I’m not sure she ever sent it out, although she claimed she’d gotten rejections but wouldn’t say which publishers. We parted ways. Two friends had to sue her to get their royalties but she’d spent the money and they didn’t collect all they were due.
Dodged a bullet with that schmagent.
My second agent was very good, ethical, and honest but didn’t really rep the mystery genre. At her suggestion, I wrote a different series. After about three years, she said she didn’t think she could do anything more for me. We parted ways and remained friends. No hard feelings. We just weren’t the right fit.
Jim, I agree that a bad agent is worse than no agent.
Ack! There is no teacher like experience, right? Caveat Scriptor…Let the Writer beware.
I’ve never tried to get an agent, but my oldest friend did. After a hundred queries twelve years ago he landed one. The agent said he was submitting the novel to a half dozen big publishers. After that, crickets. He completely ghosted my friend. Schmagent unmasked. My friend eventually reconnected with another agent who had initially passed on representing him and this time she picked him up and he landed a three book contract with a small press. (Alas, the small press dropped the ball big time on his trilogy, but that’s a different story.)
Man, horror stories in time for Halloween!
Wow. Eye-opening post, Jim. Why would the AALA loosen restrictions?
Under pressure from the members who need to make more money.
I was a victim of an agent. She was doing quite well with several successful historical romance writers, but she was taking most of the profit for herself. Over $100,000 from one. This author didn’t see a penny from her second book but was forced to write it anyway. NYC publishing being the gossipy little hub it is, every editor in the biz knew this was happening, but they didn’t say a word to the victims or anyone else. What they did do was reject every last one of her clients and blacklist them. I was one of those clients. Not only was my novel burned, but my career was stalled. That’s one of the primary reasons I decided to try this new, risky thing called ebook publishing.
Happy ending for my novel. It was my biggest bestseller and award winner.
The agent herself was jailed for a short time but never paid back those clients, then she went right back into the business in a few years.
From jail back into business. Is this a great country or what?
I never had agent representation.
I don’t think I would love it.
But if I should ever meet a schmagent,
I’ll definitely tell them to … get lost.
🙂
🤔😁
I’ve had the good, the bad and the ugly. Mostly, they’ve helped me alot, one even telling me to give up on romance and start writing mysteries. (She was right). And I had an agent who brokered me an amazing deal with a major publisher for big bucks. You know what happened? It was too far a leap for me at the time, and in the end, my numbers didn’t justify the advance. And well, we know what happens to you then. (But it helped buy me a nice house). My experiences with agents was in a different era so I can’t comment with any real clarity about what is going on now. But man, I am shocked that there are more of them prowling out there now than before. How very night of the living dead.
Jim,
You have some wise counsel in this article. I would take what you find on Writers Beware with a huge grain of salt. I’ve met Victoria Strauss and some of the information on this site (particularly about the publisher I’ve worked for 14 years) is false. I’d rather take the recommendation of someone who has been on the NY Times list 21 times Jerry B. Jenkins: https://terrywhalin.com/TerryWhalinMasterClass2020.mp4
Terry