Working with Your Agent

  • By: Jessica Faust | Date: Feb 16 2012

I’m often asked what makes the “perfect client,” and the only answer I have is a great sense of communication. The desire to keep me posted on all things good and bad so that if something can be done (even if you don’t know it can) I can jump in and do it.

One thing a few of my clients do that I LOVE is send me monthly or quarterly updates. Even if it’s information I know or have it’s extremely helpful. I get an email that says something like this:

Delivered Book 3 in series X, awaiting revisions
Finished copyedits on Book 2 in series Y, love the new cover
Starting promotion on series Y
Release date of series x is next week
Had long talk with editor about new ideas and will run those by you when I have time to think about them more.

Now, I do try to check in with clients occasionally, and to some maybe I check in too often, but an email like this helps the author center herself and feel a sense of completion and helps the agent step in with thoughts she might have. Maybe I never saw the cover so can remind her to send me a copy for the website, or maybe I just had my own brilliant idea for a new idea for her and this is the perfect time to send it along. Even if I have nothing to add, keeping an agent in the loop helps everyone work together better, which is what we’re all striving for.

Jessica

6 responses to “Working with Your Agent”

  1. Lots of posts out there this morning about working with an agent and the agent's role. I would be so good at communicating!

    On another note, is anyone else having trouble with these new verification words Blogger wants?

  2. Anonymous says:

    Yvonne, for the last few weeks I've only been able to post on blogger anonymously. It won't accept a sign-in from me. Must be some new improvement to the system.

    As for the new words, they're unreadable.

  3. JeffO says:

    Jessica, what kind of updates do you do while you're trying to sell an author's work? Do you send them regular updates?

    Regarding the word verification: these are pretty bad, but I either haven't gotten any wrong, or they don't care, they just want you to type something in.

  4. Dale Bishop says:

    It's a good way to keep the communication open. So many times authors read more into silence than they should.

  5. Anonymous says:

    If you click on the ?, there's an option to tell Capcha about the problem we all appear to be having with the new system.

    This will appear if I can get the words right this time. If not, I gave up. LOL

  6. Jessica, how much is too much contact? I suspect I'd get itchy with quarterly updates. Even if I didn't have that much to share, I'd want to feel I had regular contact with somebody who is so important to my writing career.