Sorry my post is late going up. I had internet troubles last night, but here it is.
You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you. ~Ray Bradbury
Agents are an important component to your career. Last summer I parted ways with my first agent. It was extremely hard to do because I truly liked and respected her. However, it had become obvious to us both that I needed something she wasn’t comfortable giving me. That meant she was no longer the right agent for me – and having the right agent is a key factor in building a lasting career.
Knowing this, I then proceeded to do a lot of thinking on what is right for me. Because I tend to do things in an all or nothing type of way, I took time off from most things writing to think. By most things I mean, I stopped writing, stopped trying to think of new story/project ideas, and didn’t bother to submit option materials to any of my publishers. I was still doing copy edits and galleys on my June 2009 release, but I wasn’t working on anything new. I deliberately let myself become ‘out of contract’ with my publishers so that I could think about what I really wanted for myself.
It might sound silly, but knowing what you want is important to getting it. So for any of you out there who are also going on an agent hunt, I thought I’d share MY thought process with you.
Here’s a list of things that are important to ME in an agent.
Respect, Good Communication, and similar Goals. These things may sound simple, but when you look closely, they’re not.
RESPECT: Of course you want an agent who is respected in the industry, but more importantly, I want one who respects me, and my opinions.
COMMUNICATION: I’m not the most patient person in the world, and I admit I’m not the most formal either, so I want an agent who I feel comfortable talking to. If most of our communication is going to be through an assistant, then I want to talk to the assistant before I agree to sign on with said agent.
GOALS: We both need to want to see me succeed.
Sounds simple, but it isn’t always. One common complaint I’ve heard among authors who have parted ways with their agent is that they felt their agent was more loyal to their publisher than to them.
This person is to be an advocate for me and my work, I want them to believe in that. Yes, I want them to think they can make money with me, I want that too – but above and beyond that I want them to believe that looking after my interests is more important than looking after the publishers.
I’ve done my thinking, and created a list of agents who I think have these qualities, and am now hunting for an agent. It’s been three months of solid searching, and I still don’t have an agent yet. I’ve spoken to a few, gotten offers from a couple, but I’m still searching for the right one. There’s promise, and then it feels like that promise disappears. It’s tough because I really want to be writing right now, and I feel unsure of what I should be writing. It’s a new feeling for me because everything went so fast the first time around. But I keep telling myself, everything went fast before, but if I want to get to the next level of my career, I need to take the right steps to make that happen.
I’m unsure of how much to push the agents I speak to – as in, how long do I give them to respond to a query or proposal before I figure, “Okay, No news is not Good news in this business.” My first agent always responded to me within 24 hours. Even when it came to reading a proposal. However, there are reasons I parted ways with that first agent, and maybe an agent who is slower and more methodical is what I need. So do I push? Or try to relax? Or assume that said agent has lost interest?
Normally I would assume that I just needed to be patient, but in the past months of searching I’ve learned that there are several agents out there who feel that no response is the same as a rejection. I’m not talking about ones who state in their submission guidelines that if you don’t hear from them in a month, then assume they’re not interested. I’m talking about agents who I’ve communicated with several times, and felt that things were moving in a positive direction, and that they might be the right one for me… only to suddenly never hear from them again. This has happened to me twice. I’m starting to wonder if it’s about to happen to me a third time. *sigh*
I’m not going to share my thoughts on that just yet because I don’t think I can be objective. Knowing yourself, your strengths and your weaknesses is also important when looking for an agent. With that in mind, I admit that I can be impatient and rash at times, so I need to calm down. Which means that right now I’m praying to God to give me patience…and to send it Fast! 
