Agents info

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I took notes at this writer’s panel at Westercon. Any inaccuracies or misinformation in any of these notes is the fault of the note taker.

 

  • SF&F writer’s organization resources have a central committee.
  • If you get a publishing contract, you can contact an agent and ask if they please represent me on this particular contract.
  • If you have a friend who is a member of sffa you can see they continue a list of agents who represent various authors
  • An AR: Association of Arts and resources you want an agent who will follow this standard.
  • You’d want to seek an agent who represents the kind of fiction you like to submit.
  • Only five New York publishers have different contracts and agents have a hard time getting more rights than the publishers are willing to give. Next line senses harder to sell to publishers agents are looking for more ways to make money one of those ways is helping authors publish e-books and they get a percentage. You should seek 15% of the profit because the less they have to do to make money the less motivated they are to sell your books
  • Many agents negotiate limited expenses. Money should go to authors, not the agent.
  • If you self-publish you are the publisher.
  • You need to make sure that you have arrangements that your agent tells you where they have submitted your work.
  • The only expectation you should have a real agent as they negotiate for a better contract. New York and California have the best behavior of the states for agents.
  • You want to have agents located in the areas with the publishers are in either New York or for movies California
  • You need to have an agreement that either party can exit after 30 days’ notice. They will get a percentage of the royalties for any material they sold.
  • You need a contract in writing not a handshake
  • You need to have a contract of death scenario.
  • The income stream of the agent is 15% of your profits.
  • Your advance has to pay out to sells before the second royalties and the agent gets 50%. (check may have written this line wrong)
  • International royalties for an agent gets 10%
  • Publishers send payment and 1099 tax form to the agent and at the end of the year, the agent stands money and 1099 form to the author.
  • Each April and October should have royalty payment. Have an agreement that I’ll royalty payments should go to the author.
  • Sold out is when you have sold enough books to pay for the advance and publication of the book.
  • Look for provision/terms of sffa contract.
  • Agents only make money from work they represented in that they sold.
  • 40 K is the word count considered to be a novel.
  • Editors get paid to go to a meeting not to read.
  • Agents can cause resentment if they send the wrong submission.
  • Get an agent after you sell your first book.
  • Establish a name by submitting and selling your short fiction. That is how you get attention from the publishers.
  • Go to cons where editors attend.
  • You can send query letters if you recognize a small press
  • Good small presses want established authors.
  • The five major publishers have multiple imprints for various works of fiction and nonfiction.
  • Write short stories. If you sell to big markets publish under your name. If you sell to the smaller markets and are under success use a pseudonym.
  • Airship 27 publish public domain.

Do you have something to add? If yes, please do so in the comment section of this blog.

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