A good rep?
The Society of Authors’ Martin Reed looks at what an agent does – and whether you need one
When we surveyed around 1,000 SoA members we were surprised to find that only three in ten said they are currently signed to a literary agent.
A quarter said they were on the lookout for one. A tenth said they had been agented in the past. Around half the authors who responded saw no need to have an agent at all. Some with agents questioned whether they were getting their money’s worth.
Coming from people who make at least part of their living as professional authors, this is at odds with the picture commonly shown to the emerging writer community. With creative writing courses offering builtin pitch workshops and meet-the-agent days, and short story awards with the potential of agent representation as part of the prize, there is often a huge implied pressure on new writers to secure an agent at all costs.