THE CAREER NOVELIST
Another beef one hears about some big agencies is that they only
want to package "in-house." That is, if a hot novel comes along, its
movie rights may be offered only to directors and stars that are also
agency clients. Efficient? Self-serving? You decide.
The most common complaint about large agencies is that clients
feel lost in the sauce. The reason for this may not be size alone;
plenty of small agencies neglect their clients, too. Rather, the rea-
son may have something to do with corporate culture. Both big and
small agencies are in business to make as much money as possible,
but at big agencies the emphasis can tend to be on deals, not
clients; on individual books, not whole careers.
Indeed, it is said that at certain Big Shops the agents get month-
ly reports stating how much income they have brought in. Needless
to say, this puts the emphasis on the deal of the day, the bigger the
better. Frontlist fiction and hot topical nonfiction will thrive; first
novels and genre novels will not. Agents who want juicy year-end
bonuses will naturally focus on big deals. Wouldn't you?
Does it sound like I am a tiny bit biased in favor of independent
agents? I suppose that I am, being one myself. In defense of big
agencies, I must admit that for certain kinds of novelists—ones who
value large deals above all else—a Big Shop can be a fine place to
be. Not that small agents cannot do big deals, as well. I have done
a few in my time. But there is more to a long-term career than just
doing deals. What are some of those factors?
One of them is career planning. A good agent will, from time to
time, take stock of your progress, discuss your future books with
you, set goals, devise strategy—in short, help plan your career and
get you where you want to go. If this matters to you, you may want
to think small. Independent agents have the ability to wait for
strategies to unfold and for young writers to mature.
Okay, okay ... some independent agents are disorganized. Others
have limited experience. A smattering just do not know what they are
doing. Small is not necessarily beautiful. But the most common rea-
son for bad agenting is a client load that is too demanding, and that
can happen at a literary agency of any size.
What is the optimum number of clients per agent? In my experi-
ence, fifty to sixty is about the most one agent can comfortably han-