ON PARTING WAYS WITH LITERARY AGENTS by Joy McCullough-Carranza

Many stops along the writing journey are filled with maps and guidebooks and tour guides clamoring for the writer’s attention. Query Station, ‘The Call’ Street, Debut Year Blvd…these are well-lit and heavily trafficked.

Some other stations are necessary to pass through, but for whatever reason, they have nary a flickering bulb and certainly no tour guides. We rarely talk about being on submission, for example, or what happens if your editor leaves in the middle of your series. Another poorly illuminated stop along the writing journey is the one where writers part ways with their agents.

Here’s the thing though—Breakup Station is poorly illuminated, but it’s not lightly traveled. Many, many writers part ways with their agents and return to the query trenches. Some quickly find another agent and some toil in the trenches for another long spell. Almost all feel alone, and like they’ve failed in some way. Because it’s so poorly illuminated, they have no idea how many fellow travelers are stumbling around this station.

One of the things I’ve learned along the writing journey is how incredibly comforting it is to get to know one’s fellow travelers – the other writers who have gone on submission but not sold their book. The other writers who had to query five manuscripts before they got an agent. The other writers who parted ways with an agent.

So I hauled some floodlights into Breakup Station. I wanted to see who was passing through there—a LOT of people, it turns out—and for them to see one another.

I created a survey for writers who had parted ways with an agent and I shared it with a closed Facebook group of Pitchwars mentors—around 100 people. Those folks in turn shared it with debut year groups for 2014, 2015, and 2016, and with the MG and YA Binders groups. I had over 100 survey responses within 24 hours.

If you are in Breakup Station: YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

So let’s look at some of the responses to see why writers and agents part ways, and what happens after they do. (And you guys, I tried super hard to make these into pretty pie charts, but I deal in words and it would have been simpler for me to make five actual pies.)

Question: Who initated the breakup?

Agent – 34%

Writer – 66%

Question: If your agent initiated the breakup, what was the reason? (Check all that apply.)

Agent left the business – 37%

Agent couldn’t sell a manuscript – 20%

Agent didn’t want to represent writer’s next project – 34%

Couldn’t agree on editorial direction of next project – 7%

Communication styles – 20%

Personality Clash – 10%

Other – Several of these responses included an agent switching to another agency and culling her list in the process, and an agent deciding to focus on a different genre or category.

QUESTION: If the writer initiated the breakup, what were the reasons (check all that apply):

Agent couldn’t sell a previous manuscript – 34%

Agent didn’t like the writer’s next project – 31%

Couldn’t agree on editorial direction – 25%

Communication styles – 61%

Personality clash – 31%

Other – Many of these responses included excessively slow turn-around time in reading manuscripts, getting feedback to a writer, responding to emails, or putting manuscripts on submission. Also included: concerns about the strength of the agent’s connections, agent not passing on feedback from editors, or writer not wanting to stay with the agent when they made a big career move (like to another agency).

QUESTION: How long were you with agent before splitting up?

0-6 months – 5%

6 months – 1 year – 14%

1-2 years – 40%

More than 2 years – 42%

QUESTION: If you’ve gone on to get another agent, how long did it take after your initial split?

0-6 months – 67%

6 months – 1 year – 13%

1-2 years – 15%

More than 2 years – 5%

Now, I’m throwing a lot of info at you, but there’s so little out there on this topic that I want to do it full justice. I know many writers who head into Breakup Station despair of ever getting an agent again. They think they’re damaged goods (actual wording I saw recently), they think the manuscript their agent subbed is dead forever, they think they’ve missed their shot. I wanted to get an agent’s perspective on receiving queries from writers who’ve been previously agented, so I talked to Brent Taylor of Triada US Literary Agency. He was kind enough to answer candidly. Querying writers should consider him—his manuscript wish list is here.

Me: How does it affect your consideration of a query when you see a writer has parted ways with a previous agent?

Brent: I want to note upfront that all of this is very much case-by-case. But for me, it sometimes works in the writer's favor and I'm more forgiving of query mistakes/my initial hesitations about the project if I know that this writer's work was "good enough" for a different agent. Not all agents might feel that way, though. I'm usually giving the writer the benefit of the doubt and assuming that the author-agent split was amicable and because of stylistic incompatibilities. 

But there are many other factors. Sometimes I'm very friendly with the agent that the querying writer parted ways with, and I might check in with them first just to maintain my professional relationship. Agents talk. We're a talkative crowd. 

Me: Would you sign a new client with a manuscript that had previously been seen by editors?

Brent: It depends on how I feel about the project and my vision. Every agent has different instincts, and I've certainly seen submissions lists that differ drastically from ones I would have come up with. So let's say you queried me with a middle grade novel and I felt it was a perfect fit for the more traditionally literary imprints with award-winning lists, and your previous agent had mostly submitted it to the imprints I considered more on the commercial side -- then there's certainly some wiggle room there. But I've also been in a position where I've had to say, "Look, this is great, but all these editors that passed are the same editors that I would have gone to." I know that's a completely unhelpful answer.

Me: How many editors would be too many for you to take on an already-subbed project?

Brent: I say at above ten editors, your ship has sailed and you need to write a new book. 

Thanks for your time, Brent!

I hope this gives some hope to those travelers passing through Breakup Station—or pondering a stop there. You aren’t alone. It will be a temporary stop for you, but there are fellow travelers to meet and wisdom to be gained. Much love on your journey.

On Writing the Next Thing

When I was in college, I was fortunate enough to win an award for my first play, which resulted in a production of the play. It was a big deal—both my parents flew to Chicago from the west coast despite the fact that they were in the middle of a messy divorce. Sitting through the first act was strange, to say the least, and I dreaded intermission, when people would have to interact with me about my play to my face. Especially my divorcing parents.

So I was enormously relieved when my playwriting professor—who has gone on to win the Tony Award for Best New Play and has been nominated for screenwriting Oscars three times, by the by—whisked me off to his office the moment the lights went off for intermission.

I thought he was just saving me from the family tensions and weirdness of facing my audience, akin to sitting in a room with someone while they are reading your book. But as we sat down, the first thing he said to me was not about how well the production was going, or how I was feeling. It was this: “What’s next?”

My first thought: Uh, the second act?

But he went on. “What are you writing? What’s your next play?”

This mentality that my playwriting mentor taught me almost twenty years ago (yikes) has served me well as I’ve pursued a career in fiction. Just as I always began a new play by the time the previous one was sitting on desks in literary offices, I always began a new manuscript by the time I began querying the first one. And now that I have an agent…well, submission is like Fight Club and all that. But let’s just say the same rules apply.

I’ve heard some people say they cannot focus on something new when they are anxiously awaiting responses from agents or editors. But I think that’s one of the two main reasons to work on the next one. It’s not just that the act of writing something else will distract you—you’re not writing every minute of the day after all, and there will still be those times when you’re picking up library holds/toiling at your day job/wrangling children when you will continue to obsess over your submissions.

But for me, it’s more that when I am in the throes of something new, especially those exciting early days of drafting, my hope starts to shift toward that new project. When rejections roll in for the previous one, I think, That’s okay. Because this new project is going to be The One.

The second reason it’s so helpful to work on the next project is because it really might be The One. No matter how much you love your previous manuscript, there’s every chance it might not snag that agent’s interest. Or, frankly, the interest of 60 agents (not that I know that from personal experience or anything). If I had waited around to get an agent on my first manuscript, I wouldn’t have one now. And believe it or not, there are still a couple agents who requested the full for that first one four years ago and never responded. I could plausibly still be waiting.

But that manuscript wasn’t good enough. And my second, third, and fourth manuscripts—well, I still believe they were good enough and I got very close with a whole bunch of agents, but they still weren’t The Ones. But because it takes me about six months to write a middle grade novel from idea to submission-ready and because querying is a slow game, I was always ready to query my next manuscript right about the time I’d exhausted my list of agents to query and given the ones with fulls sufficient time to read.

So when my (super amazing, I love her forever) agent signed me on my fifth manuscript, I was actually just getting ready to query #6. So she read that, and was even more excited about that one. Now she’s got options, including a couple of my previous manuscripts that may still have hope.

I’ve just sent my next thing off to my agent and I’m pretty sure it’s The One. Are you writing the next thing?

Out On Submission

I recently tried to explain to someone what it was like to be out on submission. I found it hard to describe accurately, because the truth is, the process can eat you up from the inside out. It’s like being oh-so-close to the pinnacle of the mountain, only to have your feet swallowed by the earth, unable to take another step. You can only stare up at the top of the mountain and imagine what it looks like. “But I am so close,” you whisper, your feet planted in ground beneath you. Stuck.

Then I had an email conversation with another writer who was also out on submission. She was actually going through it, and her insides were being devoured—like many writers—by the hair-pulling, nail-biting, and ulcer-inducing waiting game. I didn’t need to explain anything to her. She understood completely.

But the thing is, there are ways to help get through it without destroying yourself. Here are a few things I’ve learned:

1) USE YOUR AGENT TO BOLSTER YOUR CONFIDENCE.

When your book is out with editors, keep reminding yourself how passionately your agent responded to the book when she first read it. This will keep your confidence high. And, if you happened to have multiple agents who had been vying to rep you, use their passion to help bolster your confidence, too. Because let’s face it: this business is S…L…O…W! Each day that goes by without any word can push you one way or the other, so you need to remember that your agent (who knows what she is doing) loved your book. This is one of the many reasons you need an agent who champions your work.

2) REMEMBER THE SLOW NATURE OF THE PUBLISHING BUSINESS.

I mentioned it before. This business works at glacial speed. At best. Here’s the way many submissions go for debut authors: The editor needs to read and love your book, then share it with others who need to read and love it, after which they need to discuss the book, weigh and evaluate the book with a team, and then put a deal together to share with your agent. All that takes time, and remember that the first step—the editor actually reading the book—can take a while to begin with, especially given the fact that there are other projects on her plate. True, there are some authors who hear back quickly, but don’t assume that’ll be you. And don’t be discouraged if it isn’t. Just remind yourself that things usually happen slowly in this business.

3) KEEP IN MIND THE LONG, TOUGH ROAD OTHER AUTHORS HAVE TAKEN. YOU ARE FOLLOWING THEM.

Some writers have a quick and easy path to publication. Don’t hate on them, tough as it is not to be jealous. The key is to realize their quick road was most likely a combination of a few things: talent, a killer concept that's hot, great timing, and a bit of luck. Yes, luck. I’m not saying luck is the key factor, but it does play a role. Tim Green, an accomplished NYT bestselling author, once paid an author visit to my school district and talked about what it takes to be a success in any entertainment industry, like writing. He mentioned that you needed a good deal of talent, along with a “maniacal” work habit. “And finally,” he said, “let me tell you something people often leave out, but something that you NEED. And that’s luck.” Tim Green is right. Because his point was that you need those first two (talent and hard work) but you also need a bit of luck, whether it’s that your type of manuscript is selling like crazy at that time, or that the editor who just received your manuscript somehow found herself trapped in an elevator for hours with only your manuscript to keep her company. Point is that most authors have a potholed, bumpy ride before they find a smooth stretch of interstate. One author who I think best epitomizes how long and difficult the journey can be is James Dashner. I urge you to visit his website and scroll down to “HOW I GOT PUBLISHED” and read all 9 parts of his story. Seriously. Do. It. Now. And while you’re at it, agent Jill Corcoran (not my agent, but a darn good one) has a list of successful authors who had a tough road HERE.

* And please feel free to mention and link any other well-known author who has had a long journey as well.

4) WRITE SOMETHING NEW (NOT A SEQUEL) NOW! NO EXCUSES! DO IT!

Most importantly, once your book is out with editors, start something new. Even if your book is the first of a series, start something unrelated to the book that just went out. I’m not saying you NEVER write that second book, but I am saying you need to get something else going immediately because you need to let the other project play itself out. And guess what? That might mean it never sells. If that happens, you would have wasted a lot of time writing the second book of a series that never sells. It’s better to give yourself over to a new, exciting project. Why? Well, first off, it gets you in that writing mode again, and you’re a darn writer, not a waiter. Right? So stop waiting around and write. The second thing this does is it gives you new hope just in case, unfortunately, that first book doesn’t sell. And that’s important because you can’t give up. You can’t ever give up. I see too many writers who sink all hopes in one manuscript. I understand the bond you have with that project, with that baby, but you need to cut the cord and give birth to another. The third reason you need to start something new and unrelated to the project out on submission is because it takes your mind off the other project. And I’ve learned from experience that you can’t dwell on a project that’s out there. You really need to move on and let your energy focus on something fresh.

In the end, this is just my opinion, which is based on my experience. How about you? Let me know what you think about this crazy process.