4
CHAPTERChoosing an Agent
CHOICE? THERE'S A CHOICE?
HOW MANY HUNDREDS OF HOURS DID YOU SPEND WRITING
your last novel? How many thousands of hours have you spent on
your writing career? Work it out; the sum is probably quite high. In
fact, if you write fiction even part-time then you have certainly made
a huge investment of hours—hours that you might have spent with
your family, or earning extra money in a less demanding pursuit.
If you are a full-time novelist your investment is probably far
greater. It is measured in tens of thousands of hours, perhaps hun-
dreds of thousands. Some novelists swear their careers have cost
them blood. It astonishes me that having invested so dearly most
novelists then spend so little time choosing an agent.
"Now hold on," you say, "I spent ages searching for an agent. I
sweated. I agonized. Do not tell me that I ducked that process!"
Perhaps not. For many writers, though, the agony is mostly that
of waiting for replies. What about the rest of it? A true search
involves not only finding names and checking reputations, but mak-
ing a full comparison based on a broad range of factors that foretell
whether the author/agent relationship will be successful.
Not many authors go to great lengths. Believe it or not, the
majority spend about as much time choosing an agent as they
would choosing a coat.
For new writers, that is understandable. They have already expe-
rienced a lot of rejection. They do not want more. Their dearest wish 39