Do you have to have one ? Do you really, really need one ? What exactly do they do ? Is it all just a rip-off ? Many of you on the course will have your own opinions and possibly experiences too and you may think this is not a post you need bother with. Up to you of course but I am sure it is one worth writing and you may know nothing about the subject. You will certainly have heard that most major and many smaller publishers will not read manuscripts which do not come via an agent. I think this is a total disgrace. They are cutting their own costs by not employing people to read the UMs ( Unsolicited manuscripts - I dislike the  term 'slush pile.') but passing the financial buck so that agents will have to. Of course there are a lot of rubbish UMs. But gold is found too.

So, the first reason for trying to find an agent to employ- and you can use the word 'employ' here, for that is just what you will be doing -is to get your book read. One of the goalposts has just been moved back a bit, that`s all.

But apart from getting an agent to read your work, and, you hope, like it well enough to take you on and submit it to publishers, what is the point ?

Let`s go back before we move forward. This first goalpost is very important. If you have an agent and your agent is any good, they will have a reputation, publishers will take them seriously and trust their judgment. They may not always agree with them or buy what they offer but they know agents will not send out complete junk. The better your agent, the starrier the name of their firm, the bigger their reputation ought to be. Ought to be. Some small agents whose names you never see in the gossip columns and the Trade Press chatter, are quietly among the best. They all network and have their contacts but they do not all do it in the public eye and at all the best parties. Smart ain`t always best though it is generally the most expensive and has the sharpest suits.

Your reputation to grow will start at the moment you get an agent. You have already got onto the most important rung of the ladder. (Though submitting via an agent is NOT the only way. More of this later.)

What is an agent for after this ?

They are on your side. They fight your corner. They get you the best deal. They should tell it as it is. They know when to push for more and when to stop and accept. They look into your contract - every boring, small-print line and clause and sub-clause of it,. It is their job and arguably their most important one -to make sure you are not cheated but are given a fair deal on every count, especially on all those little details you do not understand and those events which may never come to pass but are covered just in case.

They keep publishers on their toes. They should make sure you are not dumped, dropped on, ignored, given no attention by publicity and marketing or in a lot of other ways, published badly or under-published. They will be a lot better at arguing with a publisher, if an argument should be necessary, than you will be. They are like a good defence counsel and a good defence counsel is always on the client`s side but knows when to settle.

They try to sell your book to foreign publishers and they know which and which not to submit your book to. They sort out the very varyied and complex foreign contractual stuff and other things like tax witholding. They try to sell film and tv and other media rights, large print and audio book rights and deal increasingly with digital matters.

They chase payments for you - a hundred times a week. They invoice for your VAT if you are registered.

I could go on. And this is only the business side. I have had the same agent for over 35 years and she has been the constant factor, the friend in my corner,  the one who makes me see sense and climb down, the one whose judgment I trust more than that of anyone else, who looks after the detail in a way I should but don`t and is overall my prop and stay. Your aim should be to forge such a relationship with an agent. It is still possible, though of course agents, like everyone else, move, change, go to live in Tasmania or retire.

Can you do without one ? YES

And then again, NO.

You can certainly start without one. Long Barn Books, my own small publishing company, reads far more mss from authors than from agents.  But once we take a book on and especially if I am pretty sure the author is going to have an ongoing career, I urge them to get an agent. 

HOW DO I FIND ONE ? The Writers and Artists' Year Book. The best are all there and you learn their requirements.  A clue to how good they may is should be the names of existing clients. But new young agents may be keen and hungry though they have not yet built up a list of famous names, so they should never be ignored.

Is there any quick rule of thumb to guide you ? I have one. It is probably prejudice and ignore it by all means. And there are a handful of honourable exceptions but in general, I would never go to an agent whose offices were in the country and not in London. 

I now await a deluge of protest from all agents everywhere else.