A Literary Agent Sells More than Books

  • By: Jessica Faust | Date: Mar 24 2020

You signed with your literary agent in the hope that they would sell your book. What you might not have even considered is how much more your agent will do for you and how far-reaching their job is.

Sure, an agent’s job is to find the right publisher for the book. That’s just the beginning. They are also responsible for finding the right publisher for translation rights to your book, the right audio publisher and the right production company for performance rights. The goal is to sell that book as many times as possible.

Co-Agents

Most literary agents have close connections with a number of different agents and publishers throughout the world. Most have co-agents–agents they work collaboratively with to sell your book to other places. A co-agent has contacts in film or France or Japan that your literary agent doesn’t have.

Once a book is ready to be pitched it isn’t just going to US publishers (using the US as my base). Your agent is also pitching for translation, audio, and film (to name a few). In all cases the goal is the same, to find the best place for your book.

Once an offer is made your agent’s job is the same as it was for the book. To work with their co-agent to get you the best deal possible.

8 responses to “A Literary Agent Sells More than Books”

  1. Avatar Beth Fehlbaum says:
    March 24, 2020 at 8:25 am

    Thanks for this info! I am loving your site. Your video on query letters very much informed how I wrote mine. I appreciate you sharing your knowledge and advice through these posts & on your YouTube channel.

  2. Avatar Karen says:
    March 25, 2020 at 11:51 am

    Thanks muchly for all the information you share.

  3. Avatar M . E. Marino says:
    March 25, 2020 at 3:51 pm

    Thank you. Much is missed self- publishing. Your explanation gives a new author reason to persist submitting to agents.

  4. Avatar Hanh Bui says:
    March 26, 2020 at 12:32 am

    Thank you Jessica for helping authors navigate the world of publishing. Your videos and blogs are informative and helpful.

  5. Avatar Serah says:
    March 27, 2020 at 12:33 am

    I really enjoy your videos. It inspires me to not give up and always improve.

  6. Avatar AJ Blythe says:
    March 28, 2020 at 7:50 pm

    This only affirms my choice of wanting an agent for my career. (and as a PS I’ve finally managed to get YouTube to send me an alert when you post a new video *happy dancing*)

  7. Avatar Donald Prime says:
    September 26, 2020 at 3:59 pm

    Thank you for all the good information that you continue to share.