You think your manuscript has a chance to get published? Well, it’s time to wrap up that novel of yours and send it to different literary agencies. These literary agencies will represent you as a writer, and will take care of all the negotiations between publishers in writers. In short, all you have to do is write; your literary agency will take care of the rest. Not only are literary agencies beneficial for writers, but they are also advantageous to publishers, since they already take away the petty administrative from their shoulders.
If you want to have a literary agent, you can find their advertisements in different directories and on the internet. If you have writer friends, they can also recommend trustworthy literary agencies for you. However, you should make sure that once you are on the lookout for a literary agent, your book is already promising. Literary agencies receive a lot of manuscripts everyday, so they can be pretty harsh and quick when rejecting something that they consider to be a half-baked, not good enough manuscript.
But if you are a talented writer, a literary agency will surely take interest on you. They will offer you a contract proposal in which the percentage of payments are laid out. You get to know how much you, your literary agent, and your publisher will earn when your book is already out in the market. Other things found in the contract include the time it is going to take effect, sequels of the book if ever, and marketing our book. Of course, you should only sign the contract if the terms are agreeable to you and your publisher.
Before the literary agency gives your manuscript to the publisher, they will first examine it to see if there is anything that needs to be edited. Your agent might then send you editing requests before he proceeds to giving you a list of potential publishers and their submission requirements.
It would also be your literary agency who gets to deal with your publisher as they will be the one to submit the manuscript to the publisher. They will work out the terms once the publisher agrees to print the book. The literary agency will represent the writer all throughout the negotiations with the publisher.
Literary agencies are paid through a small portion of the income generated from the sales of the writer’s books. While writers sometimes receive payment in advance, literary agencies are usually paid once the books are sold.
