Excerpts from Writers Tricks of the Trade: 39 Things You Need to Know Excerpts from the Writers Tricks of the Trade book | Page 11

WRITERS’ TRICKS OF THE TRADE
T HE ABC’ S OF W RITING F ICTION
C HAPTER O NE
A
IS FOR
AGENT
An agent wants to represent me ~
Things to consider before you sign a contract
The six sweetest words an unpublished, or in some cases published,
writer yearns to hear are, “An agent offered me a contract.”
All the hard work has paid off. It’s time to reap the rewards. Or is it?
Many reputable agents evaluate an author’s work with an educated
eye. When they are enthusiastic about an author’s work, they often
offer representation contracts in accordance with accepted guide-
lines. Unfortunately, there are as many or more who call themselves
agents just waiting to see how much they can get from their next
pigeon.
The legitimate agent is dedicated to promoting their clients’ work,
negotiating contracts and much more. They take on a client because
they feel that author’s work is professional, compelling and most
important, something they can sell to a publisher. But what about
the sharks who offer the moon and don’t even deliver a little piece
of green cheese? Their mission in life is to relieve the “publish-me”
hungry writer of as many dollars as possible.
This doesn’t mean an innocent writer who fell for the scam couldn’t
have gotten an agent. Some fleeced authors are truly talented, but
they jumped at the wrong deal. Others are writers who are not yet
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