The Agency Has Come Forward

[rachelmanija]

This post was written by me and Sherwood.

The unnamed agency in our previous post has chosen to present their perception of the exchange. We confirm that it was the agency we referred to. We stand by every word we wrote in our original article.

We did not wish to name them, because we preferred to focus on the larger issues. We did not spread rumors about them, and we don't know who did.

This is why we went public: After the initial exchange a month ago, we spoke in private to a number of other writers, without mentioning the name of the agent or agency. There was an overwhelming response of "Me too!" Many other writers had been asked by agents and editors to alter or remove the minority identity of their characters, sometimes as a condition of representation or sale. Sometimes those identities had been altered by editors without the writers' knowledge or permission.

That response, and posts like Malinda Lo's recent statistics make it clear that the problem is much larger than a couple of writers and one specific agency.

We urge you all to continue focusing on the bigger picture.

Discussion is welcome but abuse and name-calling is not. Please do your best to be civil.

ETA: Since several people asked: I do have an agent for my nonfiction, Brian DeFiore. He's great. The work Sherwood and I do together is very different from what we both do solo, and we wanted an agent to represent us as a team.

Comments

[movingfinger.livejournal.com]

I'm left wondering: Doesn't anyone take good notes during these meetings? I can type fast enough to produce a virtual transcript, and I'm sure most of the people reading this can too. Moreover, wouldn't the agency have had a written-out list of points to cover in the meeting? I have trouble believing they have so little to do that they can rely on memory to provide prompts for all the issues they'd need to cover, and that there would not be some file, paper or electronic, in which a note would go, to the effect of "We talked with X and Y on such-and-such a date and these issues were discussed; the agreed outcomes were a, b, c".

I mean, that's how I behave in those business situations. Because people forget.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I came in with a written list of bullet points to discuss. However, I didn't get to any of them, because most of the conversation got taken up by discussing whether or not it was okay for a character to be gay.

[movingfinger.livejournal.com]

What I'm wondering is what the agent's agenda looked like.

I think you have a good book to sell. Not "a good book, but." A good book.

The other aspect of this incident that nags at me, is how much worse publishing is without transom submissions. Electing to have a whole class of people unassociated with your business (effectively subcontracting without a formal agreement) handle an important function for you is going to weaken you in the long run.

[rosefox]

Agents do a lot of good for authors, particularly in the area of contract negotiation. I don't think a blanket lesson of "AGENTS BAD" is the one to draw from this.

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

That is hilarious, in a horrible and wrong way.