Why I Chose My Agent

As I mentioned earlier, I spoke with several agents this time around. (This was quite a bit better than my last attempt at finding an agent, which resulted in me speaking with a whopping zero.) Although they all seemed great, I really clicked with the last agent I spoke with, after I’d already thought my mind was made up. Here’s why…

1)      She was enthusiastic about my novel. I think this one is a no brainer; any agent who wants to represent your work needs to be enthusiastic.

2)      I thought her editorial comments were spot-on. You know that one critique partner who gets what you’re trying to do and makes insightful suggestions to make your work better? Yeah, that was her. One other agent I spoke with wanted to change things too much and another thought it could be sent out as it was...but I wanted to make my work the best I could keeping with my original vision.

3)       She took the time to explain the process to me. We spoke for over an hour and she went through what would happen next step by step. She explained how advances work and how much say I would probably have over my cover. She also told me what would happen if we don’t sell this particular book. I felt like she was open and honest and not just trying to woo me.

4)      She sounded excited about what I’m writing now. Now only did she suggest making In the After into a series, she made it clear that she wanted to represent me, not just my book.

5)      We just clicked. Sometimes you have a connection with someone and you want that with your agent. One agent I spoke with seemed a bit awkward on the phone…and if she was awkward with me, I wondered how she’d be with publishers.

In addition, she’s been an agent for a while and has her own, long established agency. I could go on, but you get the idea. Hopefully this is helpful when you all choose your agent.

Tomorrow – After you choose, what do you say to the other agents that didn’t make the cut?