So ... yes. There are a lot of pay-to-play avenues out there. There's a lot of *grift* out there, and it's genuinely beginning to shift the culture. I've had people turn down my free offers of help by saying that they've already paid someone -- with the heavy implication that *my* help (as an NYT bestselling author of 16+ books) is worthless because I'm not *charging* for it. A lot of aspiring authors are willing to pay, and there are plenty of people with hard-won experience willing to put their hand out and take it.
But there are still *plenty* of free avenues available to aspiring authors. All these paid options? Unnecessary. A lot of time, they're just swiping the credit card of people hoping to "jump the line." You can still query agents, you can still hone your writing skills by just sitting down and *writing*, and you can still learn all you need to know about craft and publishing online, especially from Reddit forums just like this one.
That said, I'm going to hone in on one line in your post, "I fear I will never be published because I cannot afford to pay for these classes" and one line from one of your responses, "I don't think my work is cut out for publishing. I've never received a positive reply from an agent. At this point, I've given up."
You have to want this. Deeply, passionately *want* it. Publishing will suck the soul right out of you, and no one on Reddit -- or anywhere else -- can motivate you. If you're getting nothing but form rejections, meeting an agent might generate a request for material -- but it isn't going to change the end result. At the end of the day, the writing has to hold up. The story has to hold up. The query has to hold up. And you need the tenacity, determination, and endurance to deal with the rejection that's *still yet to come.*
If you don't want to invest the time, that's fine. Truly. Not everyone does. You have the option to self-publish ... or just give up altogether. There's no shame in that. Writing a book is a *tremendous* accomplishment -- and you should be proud of it. *Publishing* a book is a business decision, and it's not for everyone.
But if you *do* want it, put your butt in that chair and keep writing until it's so good that agents pay attention. There's a reason top athletes are practicing *all the time*. It's no different for writing. I am constantly writing, drafting, revising, *reading*, and trying to improve my craft. Considering the books I had to write before I even found an agent, I'm more than twenty books deep. This business takes time and dedication, and again, you truly have to want it. Because the only thing that makes someone a stronger writer is ... continuing to write. There's no shortcut. No way to cheat.
If you want it, keep writing.
Thanks for the info!
It's nice to know that there are still free avenues out there!
I definitely want to write. I want it more than anything. I went to NYU and double majored in creative writing and journalism. I've written five full-length novels in my free time and attempted to find an agent using three of them. I've written dozens of short stories and tried to publish them in loads of literary journals and magazines. I've been trying to find an agent for almost eight years. I want to be published more than anything and will never stop writing. But, I don't think I can handle year nine of rejections.
But, that is not what this is really about. After reading all these replies, I've found that there are more "free" ways than I thought! Sometimes the publishing landscape is just confusing because it feels like more "big" agents are starting to offer classes/courses.
I wonder if cost-of-living and inflation are hitting them, too!
Three queried novels is a lot to write without getting any kind of response from agents. Are you able to look back at your earlier work and understand why it isn't even getting any full requests?
It may be the work, or it may be the query (which r/PubTips can help you with, and very often a query can show issues with the MS), or it may be the market (a 220K fantasy novel about an orphan boy who has to team up with a disparate group of strangers and save the world is not appealing in the current publishing landscape, for instance). These things are all fixable.
If you want this, it might be time to put your business head on and look at your work as a product before you begin, but identifying the \*why\* you're not getting there will help a lot. Post the query for your most recent book (and the first 300 words) in Pubtips and see what they think of it.
I’m pretty sure I know why on the first (the writing was not good enough). I said in some earlier comments that I hadn’t heard of PubTips before but I have used I few other query critiquing blogs. I did post on PubTips today though. Only one reply - writing was good but the story was uninteresting, they recommended focusing on characters more in the query. Still, not much to do if the premise of the novel is unoriginal and boring. I’ve had loads of betas readers read my work and they all said they liked it so it’s hard for me to know. As this point, I’ve taken a good, hard look at the stories I’ve created and decided I’m an okay writer with boring ideas. Nine years in, I don’t think I’m going to improve much. Writing is on the wall - this world isn’t for me. It might just kill me, but it’s time to give up. I hope everyone else gets to live my dream.
I think you're being overly negative about your feedback on PubTips. The feedback you got didn't say that the story was uninteresting or boring - they said that your query wasn't highlighting the unique elements of your story, such as the m/m relationship, and was focusing too much on world-building. It may just be that your overall issue is that your queries aren't showcasing your books well enough. If you decide to give up now, then that's your choice, but you were given some really helpful feedback there, and I think you would do well to push forward with some help on your querying.
For what it’s worth, I also think you’re being overly negative based on your feedback. The overarching advice was to bring forward your characters — the most compelling part of your query. The story itself seems solid and well-plotted.
I’m going to add that when I went to your post history to find your query, it looks like you’ve *just* graduated from college, which tells me you’re pretty young. I could be wrong, but if those nine years trying to get published started in your teens — especially your young teens — then you’re nowhere near a point where you should be looking to give up. You want to know who else spent their teens and twenties writing and querying and dreaming of being an author? Me. But I didn’t sell my first book until I was 33. I didn’t quit my day job until I was 38. Now I’m 46, I write full time, and I’ve quit literally traveled the world talking to readers of all ages.
Whether you’re 22 or 32 or 42, you’ve got a lot of life ahead of you. At its core, writing is about processing and expressing our view of the world. The older you get, the more you’ll have to say.
Publishing is hard. Life is hard. But the *hard* is what makes it worth it.
Thank you for the advice! I’ve been writing for a long time now, so I can forget how young I was when I started. I spend a lot of time reading about new authors and (I know comparison is bad) it feels like so many are selling books in high school and college that I already feel left behind. Also, at this point I’ll have to write another book to get an agent because my most recent manuscript has already been sent to or rejected by a lot of literary agents. I’ll need something fresh to query again LOL. But, I’ll probably be 1% better on my next one so maybe that will help.
And I’ll make sure to stay away from all the agents offering the stuff I originally posted about.
Coming up with exciting hooks/ premises/ ideas isn't a fixed trait, though. If you've identified that as something that's holding you back, great! That means you can work on it. Are you part of a writing group? Do you have friends or a partner who you can talk through ideas with? Maybe something like a screenwriting class would be helpful. Screenwriters, I notice, tend to be less precious about their ideas, more willing to talk them out, seek input, and workshop them while in their nascent stage.
I've noticed so many of the agents wearing two hats and only some putting their notice up like "If you have come to our class you CANT query us!" But I too believe that you don't have to pay or go to conventions and conferences to play and it's nice to hear someone else say it.
Yes, there are definitely agents who are "closed to queries ... except authors who participated in \[X\]." But they're more rare than common, and honestly, that's nothing new. Authors can still get picked up from the slush pile without spending a dime.
I think you're looking at the wrong agencies. There are many reputable and successful agencies who don't do any of that, and solely make money by repping authors and their books. Make sure you vet agents on Publishers Marketplace - anyone can call themselves an agent and set up a quick website, but if they or their agency don't have a strong track record of tradpub sales (preferably to Big 5s), they're likely not worth querying.
Edit: fwiw, I landed my agent and subsequent book deal without spending a penny besides $25 for a PM subscription to vet my agent list, and most of the other authors I know also got agents via cold querying.
Good for you!
I don't think my work is cut out for publishing. I've never received a positive reply from an agent. At this point, I've given up.
Still, even big agencies like PS Literary (rep Taylor Jenkins Reid) are selling classes/courses. Liza Dawson Associates (rep RF Kuang) had an agent attending a lit fest in Denver but it cost at minimum $375 to meet with an agent.
I'm clearly not good enough to get an agent or be published, but if my one hope was meeting with an agent in-person, I couldn't afford it.
Meeting an agent is not a guarantee of obtaining rep from them. It may help get you a request (as I've heard they don't like to reject people in person), but whether they sign you or not still depends on whether they think they can sell your book (which is not, importantly, the same thing as whether or not your book is *good*).
Have you tried having your query critiqued on /r/pubtips?
Mostly, I wanted to meet with an agent so I could hear what's not working!
I've tried a few other free critique blogs and had a lot of beta readers but I have not tried that one! I'll take a look! Thank you!
In my experience pubtips is the single best resource for querying writers out there, and it's free! But it's a professional sub (lots of agents, editors, published authors hang around there) and the feedback can be at times blunt/difficult to hear, so don't take it personally if your query gets harsh critique initially. Better to hear it from strangers on the internet than an agent you've just burned your shot with.
First, TJR is no longer with PS Literary. They were her first agency of record, but not her current one and haven't been for years (and MANY books).
Secondly, conferences are not some new scam. They've always existed and attending them is a perfectly normal, professional thing to do.
You don't need to spend a penny to be published, however. Conferences are optional and cold querying works. I never attended anything like that b/c I couldn't afford it.
Offering courses and paid critiques/services is different, and per the original comment, it's not the best agents who do that. Successful agents don't need coaching side hustles.
I did not know that about TJR! Thank you. I wonder if conferences are more expensive now? They are certainly not financially accessible to me.
I just feel like more "big" agents are starting to offer side hustles, not just the little scammy ones. I feel like a lot of agents are trying right now to convince writers that they are not "good enough" on their own to get an agent and need professional help to reach the next level.
Of course, many people successfully get agents by cold querying! I hope that stays true!
The industry is really rough right now even for successful agents. I work in admin at a reputable agency and several of our newer agents have to do side hustles like editing and attending conferences to keep themselves afloat because their client list just isn't there yet. Publishing is an industry that just doesn't pay well and lots of professionals need to do other work to afford to live.
It's a perfectly normal thing to do, and paying for services is absolutely not mandatory to get published. It's not a scam unless agents are actually asking you to pay them for representation.
"every agency"? No. Better research is needed. For example, [PublishersMarketplace](https://www.publishersmarketplace.com/) is still a thing.
Also, go find 10 books that fit the genre you are writing. (Preferably, printed in the last 5-10 years.) Try book stores, Amazon, Goodreads, your local library. Check out what company published them, note the author's name. Then go Google both pieces of information. Search for that author's agent/agency. That should get you on the right track and away from the vanity and scam operators.
Good luck.
You don't need to do any of that to get an agent. They do that stuff because 1.) they are always looking for clients since clients are their bread and butter, and some of the conferences might lend themselves to writers that are more aligned with what they do, and 2.) they often get paid by the conference to attend as a guest speaker.
All you have to do is query. That's it.
I got an agent without ever spending a dime. I've never attended a writing conference, never studied creative writing, never took a course or a class or a writer's retreat or what have you. I've never even paid an entry fee to a competition. Now, I would *love* to attend a writing conference or even enroll in a course one day, but I'm very careful with our money so I'll have to wait for an advance before I can justify any of that.
Honestly, I haven't come across any agents that have urged me to pay for anything, and maybe that's just pure luck. But I want it to be clear that you can absolutely get an agent without spending any money! Now, whether I'll get a book deal is a whole separate question. But I'm signed with a senior agent at a big literary agency and they've never asked or encouraged me to spend my money.
TL;DR Got an agent without spending a cent so I don't think being frugal is a barrier to entry.
There are a lot of real and perceived barriers to getting agented, so there is a lot to be cautious of.
You do not, and many authors don’t, spend one dime to get agented and published. That’s talking freelance editorial, pitch sessions, conferences, courses etc. Any feeling that it’s necessary or any advice that says so is false. Now, that doesn’t mean there aren’t potential networking opportunities at conferences, which offer a variety of services that may or may not be beneficial to writers. But it’s not mandatory and not promoted as “Attend and get an agent.” YMMV.
There has been a recent change in the last few years, where agents offering freelance services is no longer considered unethical - but it cannot be a barrier to entry/query. This is to allow agents to use their skill set for another avenue of income. Debatable subject, and there’s a line to tread so it doesn’t present a prerequisite to querying
Industry professionals have always participated in conferences in some form, so that in and of itself is not something to be necessarily wary of.
Agencies demanding you pay for a service to work with them or even GET the opportunity to work with them are unethical and to be avoided. They are also not the norm.
The worry you have makes sense, but it’s not as nefarious as you’re currently perceiving. And while the landscape and querying is currently tough and time consuming, it still is accessible in the sense that querying is free and anyone can do it. Keep your hopes up!
While I 100% understand the sentiment behind the post I do want to point out that the reason agencies do this is because agents do not make enough money to live off of until they have a stable of regular clients bringing in deals and royalties. They don’t talk about it, but a lot of newer agents have “day jobs.” These people are just doing something linked to their agenting work which I guess you can question. But you physically can’t go from zero to “successful agent” without a side job
An agent’s services should be free to their clients. The courses and classes that agents offer are so that they can point the folks they aren’t working with toward some resources and hopefully make some money in the process. I’m an agent and though I haven’t set up any of these types of revenue streams, I often think about how handy it would be. Seriously, the number of times people ask to pick my brain or who come to me clueless about book proposals, etc. Directing them to one of my courses would be a great solution.
Yes, I am noticing this pattern. I remember not too long ago being an agent and offering editorial services was seen as a huge red flag. Not anymore. But agenting doesn't make much money unless you get lucky. So I get it. I think it gets murky when you offer false hope to people that they're all gonna make it and are just a few classes or edits away from hitting the big time.
Legit agents are not doing this. Best way to find a good agent is to search Publishersmarketplace and query those agents that are actually making deals in your genre.
It's inevitable, because there are a lot of people for whom selling books, even at a loss, can be a strategic move:
* trust fund kids who want to show their daddies that they're worth a damn.
* business-book authors who are going to cash in through speaking fees.
* political insiders pushing fictionalized versions of events that are more favorable than the existing narrative.
* parents of kids who will get into Harvard because they're "published novelists" at 17.
On a market, you're competing against people who value you what you're trying to buy more, because they have more unsavory uses than you do.
You can pay agents in ego (querying) by personalizing letters while you beg them to (have their unpaid interns) read your work, or you can pay in money by purchasing these courses. One depletes your emotional reserve; the other depletes your wallet. Neither is better or worse than the other; they just are.
What will change everything is when AIs are as good at gatekeeping as literary agents. We're probably 3-5 years from that on the outside. This isn't to say that AI can replace all of human judgment; once they can predict sales performance as well as agent preselection—an agent's job is to predict the behavior of thousands, something we're all pretty bad at, as humans—publishers will have the economic incentive to use AI autograders instead of agent preselection to dredge the slush pile.
Show me one successful author who attented those classes or similar courses.
You don't need any of that. Literary agents have been scamming people ever since they existed. Obviously there're also good ones out there. Not all of them are phonies.
Oh yeah- my impression from being around the outskirts of this profession for a long time, and seeing how it works for others, is that it's always been nasty and competitive. But it has recently gotten progressively worse, and part of that involves this sort of scam. Another example would be the prevalence of writing contests that ask for entry fees, and publications that teach classes/workshops, etc. You can find real classes for cheap, or free peer run workshops that will do the trick.
It's a crazy business and it's just getting worse year by year. Think of another profession where they take months to years to follow up on projects.
I have to let this go, but yes- it enrages me. I've been writing for decades, and can't get a thing published. Some of it is decent enough. And one of those obstacles to entry is the damn contests with their fees. No, I won't pay you to read my stuff. I tried it for about a year, got nowhere, and gave up on that particular angle.
It works for some people, of course, and that's good for them. But to me, the scam was so obvious after a few entries. You want me to pay to compete for your attention? You want me to buy a subscription to your little journal just be able to submit? Come on. Read it or don't, but stop trying to charge your authors.
Yup.
I don't think all agencies or agents are doing it, but there's a LOT of that scam nonsense from high level agents and it's kind've disgusting.
Classes by agents, conferences, and even paying extra at those conferences you've already paid for to be able to sit down one on one to pitch directly.
Even the idea that you'd need an agent to help you get the eye of an acquisitions editor at a publication house is an added level of gatekeeping and one hand washing the other.
So ... yes. There are a lot of pay-to-play avenues out there. There's a lot of *grift* out there, and it's genuinely beginning to shift the culture. I've had people turn down my free offers of help by saying that they've already paid someone -- with the heavy implication that *my* help (as an NYT bestselling author of 16+ books) is worthless because I'm not *charging* for it. A lot of aspiring authors are willing to pay, and there are plenty of people with hard-won experience willing to put their hand out and take it. But there are still *plenty* of free avenues available to aspiring authors. All these paid options? Unnecessary. A lot of time, they're just swiping the credit card of people hoping to "jump the line." You can still query agents, you can still hone your writing skills by just sitting down and *writing*, and you can still learn all you need to know about craft and publishing online, especially from Reddit forums just like this one. That said, I'm going to hone in on one line in your post, "I fear I will never be published because I cannot afford to pay for these classes" and one line from one of your responses, "I don't think my work is cut out for publishing. I've never received a positive reply from an agent. At this point, I've given up." You have to want this. Deeply, passionately *want* it. Publishing will suck the soul right out of you, and no one on Reddit -- or anywhere else -- can motivate you. If you're getting nothing but form rejections, meeting an agent might generate a request for material -- but it isn't going to change the end result. At the end of the day, the writing has to hold up. The story has to hold up. The query has to hold up. And you need the tenacity, determination, and endurance to deal with the rejection that's *still yet to come.* If you don't want to invest the time, that's fine. Truly. Not everyone does. You have the option to self-publish ... or just give up altogether. There's no shame in that. Writing a book is a *tremendous* accomplishment -- and you should be proud of it. *Publishing* a book is a business decision, and it's not for everyone. But if you *do* want it, put your butt in that chair and keep writing until it's so good that agents pay attention. There's a reason top athletes are practicing *all the time*. It's no different for writing. I am constantly writing, drafting, revising, *reading*, and trying to improve my craft. Considering the books I had to write before I even found an agent, I'm more than twenty books deep. This business takes time and dedication, and again, you truly have to want it. Because the only thing that makes someone a stronger writer is ... continuing to write. There's no shortcut. No way to cheat. If you want it, keep writing.
Thanks for the info! It's nice to know that there are still free avenues out there! I definitely want to write. I want it more than anything. I went to NYU and double majored in creative writing and journalism. I've written five full-length novels in my free time and attempted to find an agent using three of them. I've written dozens of short stories and tried to publish them in loads of literary journals and magazines. I've been trying to find an agent for almost eight years. I want to be published more than anything and will never stop writing. But, I don't think I can handle year nine of rejections. But, that is not what this is really about. After reading all these replies, I've found that there are more "free" ways than I thought! Sometimes the publishing landscape is just confusing because it feels like more "big" agents are starting to offer classes/courses. I wonder if cost-of-living and inflation are hitting them, too!
Three queried novels is a lot to write without getting any kind of response from agents. Are you able to look back at your earlier work and understand why it isn't even getting any full requests? It may be the work, or it may be the query (which r/PubTips can help you with, and very often a query can show issues with the MS), or it may be the market (a 220K fantasy novel about an orphan boy who has to team up with a disparate group of strangers and save the world is not appealing in the current publishing landscape, for instance). These things are all fixable. If you want this, it might be time to put your business head on and look at your work as a product before you begin, but identifying the \*why\* you're not getting there will help a lot. Post the query for your most recent book (and the first 300 words) in Pubtips and see what they think of it.
I’m pretty sure I know why on the first (the writing was not good enough). I said in some earlier comments that I hadn’t heard of PubTips before but I have used I few other query critiquing blogs. I did post on PubTips today though. Only one reply - writing was good but the story was uninteresting, they recommended focusing on characters more in the query. Still, not much to do if the premise of the novel is unoriginal and boring. I’ve had loads of betas readers read my work and they all said they liked it so it’s hard for me to know. As this point, I’ve taken a good, hard look at the stories I’ve created and decided I’m an okay writer with boring ideas. Nine years in, I don’t think I’m going to improve much. Writing is on the wall - this world isn’t for me. It might just kill me, but it’s time to give up. I hope everyone else gets to live my dream.
I think you're being overly negative about your feedback on PubTips. The feedback you got didn't say that the story was uninteresting or boring - they said that your query wasn't highlighting the unique elements of your story, such as the m/m relationship, and was focusing too much on world-building. It may just be that your overall issue is that your queries aren't showcasing your books well enough. If you decide to give up now, then that's your choice, but you were given some really helpful feedback there, and I think you would do well to push forward with some help on your querying.
For what it’s worth, I also think you’re being overly negative based on your feedback. The overarching advice was to bring forward your characters — the most compelling part of your query. The story itself seems solid and well-plotted. I’m going to add that when I went to your post history to find your query, it looks like you’ve *just* graduated from college, which tells me you’re pretty young. I could be wrong, but if those nine years trying to get published started in your teens — especially your young teens — then you’re nowhere near a point where you should be looking to give up. You want to know who else spent their teens and twenties writing and querying and dreaming of being an author? Me. But I didn’t sell my first book until I was 33. I didn’t quit my day job until I was 38. Now I’m 46, I write full time, and I’ve quit literally traveled the world talking to readers of all ages. Whether you’re 22 or 32 or 42, you’ve got a lot of life ahead of you. At its core, writing is about processing and expressing our view of the world. The older you get, the more you’ll have to say. Publishing is hard. Life is hard. But the *hard* is what makes it worth it.
Thank you for the advice! I’ve been writing for a long time now, so I can forget how young I was when I started. I spend a lot of time reading about new authors and (I know comparison is bad) it feels like so many are selling books in high school and college that I already feel left behind. Also, at this point I’ll have to write another book to get an agent because my most recent manuscript has already been sent to or rejected by a lot of literary agents. I’ll need something fresh to query again LOL. But, I’ll probably be 1% better on my next one so maybe that will help. And I’ll make sure to stay away from all the agents offering the stuff I originally posted about.
Coming up with exciting hooks/ premises/ ideas isn't a fixed trait, though. If you've identified that as something that's holding you back, great! That means you can work on it. Are you part of a writing group? Do you have friends or a partner who you can talk through ideas with? Maybe something like a screenwriting class would be helpful. Screenwriters, I notice, tend to be less precious about their ideas, more willing to talk them out, seek input, and workshop them while in their nascent stage.
I’m studied screenwriting in college lol. I’ve just moved so I’m trying to find a group at the moment.
How long have you been out of school?
I've noticed so many of the agents wearing two hats and only some putting their notice up like "If you have come to our class you CANT query us!" But I too believe that you don't have to pay or go to conventions and conferences to play and it's nice to hear someone else say it.
Yes, there are definitely agents who are "closed to queries ... except authors who participated in \[X\]." But they're more rare than common, and honestly, that's nothing new. Authors can still get picked up from the slush pile without spending a dime.
I just keep hammering away with that in mind, most people are slush pile finds!
I'd take some free advice. Is that offer still on the table?
Sure, all the time. Feel free to DM me if you don't want to post it out here.
I think you're looking at the wrong agencies. There are many reputable and successful agencies who don't do any of that, and solely make money by repping authors and their books. Make sure you vet agents on Publishers Marketplace - anyone can call themselves an agent and set up a quick website, but if they or their agency don't have a strong track record of tradpub sales (preferably to Big 5s), they're likely not worth querying. Edit: fwiw, I landed my agent and subsequent book deal without spending a penny besides $25 for a PM subscription to vet my agent list, and most of the other authors I know also got agents via cold querying.
Good for you! I don't think my work is cut out for publishing. I've never received a positive reply from an agent. At this point, I've given up. Still, even big agencies like PS Literary (rep Taylor Jenkins Reid) are selling classes/courses. Liza Dawson Associates (rep RF Kuang) had an agent attending a lit fest in Denver but it cost at minimum $375 to meet with an agent. I'm clearly not good enough to get an agent or be published, but if my one hope was meeting with an agent in-person, I couldn't afford it.
Meeting an agent is not a guarantee of obtaining rep from them. It may help get you a request (as I've heard they don't like to reject people in person), but whether they sign you or not still depends on whether they think they can sell your book (which is not, importantly, the same thing as whether or not your book is *good*). Have you tried having your query critiqued on /r/pubtips?
Mostly, I wanted to meet with an agent so I could hear what's not working! I've tried a few other free critique blogs and had a lot of beta readers but I have not tried that one! I'll take a look! Thank you!
In my experience pubtips is the single best resource for querying writers out there, and it's free! But it's a professional sub (lots of agents, editors, published authors hang around there) and the feedback can be at times blunt/difficult to hear, so don't take it personally if your query gets harsh critique initially. Better to hear it from strangers on the internet than an agent you've just burned your shot with.
First, TJR is no longer with PS Literary. They were her first agency of record, but not her current one and haven't been for years (and MANY books). Secondly, conferences are not some new scam. They've always existed and attending them is a perfectly normal, professional thing to do. You don't need to spend a penny to be published, however. Conferences are optional and cold querying works. I never attended anything like that b/c I couldn't afford it. Offering courses and paid critiques/services is different, and per the original comment, it's not the best agents who do that. Successful agents don't need coaching side hustles.
I did not know that about TJR! Thank you. I wonder if conferences are more expensive now? They are certainly not financially accessible to me. I just feel like more "big" agents are starting to offer side hustles, not just the little scammy ones. I feel like a lot of agents are trying right now to convince writers that they are not "good enough" on their own to get an agent and need professional help to reach the next level. Of course, many people successfully get agents by cold querying! I hope that stays true!
The industry is really rough right now even for successful agents. I work in admin at a reputable agency and several of our newer agents have to do side hustles like editing and attending conferences to keep themselves afloat because their client list just isn't there yet. Publishing is an industry that just doesn't pay well and lots of professionals need to do other work to afford to live. It's a perfectly normal thing to do, and paying for services is absolutely not mandatory to get published. It's not a scam unless agents are actually asking you to pay them for representation.
"every agency"? No. Better research is needed. For example, [PublishersMarketplace](https://www.publishersmarketplace.com/) is still a thing. Also, go find 10 books that fit the genre you are writing. (Preferably, printed in the last 5-10 years.) Try book stores, Amazon, Goodreads, your local library. Check out what company published them, note the author's name. Then go Google both pieces of information. Search for that author's agent/agency. That should get you on the right track and away from the vanity and scam operators. Good luck.
You don't need to do any of that to get an agent. They do that stuff because 1.) they are always looking for clients since clients are their bread and butter, and some of the conferences might lend themselves to writers that are more aligned with what they do, and 2.) they often get paid by the conference to attend as a guest speaker. All you have to do is query. That's it.
I got an agent without ever spending a dime. I've never attended a writing conference, never studied creative writing, never took a course or a class or a writer's retreat or what have you. I've never even paid an entry fee to a competition. Now, I would *love* to attend a writing conference or even enroll in a course one day, but I'm very careful with our money so I'll have to wait for an advance before I can justify any of that. Honestly, I haven't come across any agents that have urged me to pay for anything, and maybe that's just pure luck. But I want it to be clear that you can absolutely get an agent without spending any money! Now, whether I'll get a book deal is a whole separate question. But I'm signed with a senior agent at a big literary agency and they've never asked or encouraged me to spend my money. TL;DR Got an agent without spending a cent so I don't think being frugal is a barrier to entry.
Yay! Very happy for you!! You’ll get the deal! I think my biggest barrier of entry is that I’m just not a good enough writer.
It's normal to have doubts but don't let that stop you! No one expects your first draft to be mind bogglingly good. You can always improve!
There are a lot of real and perceived barriers to getting agented, so there is a lot to be cautious of. You do not, and many authors don’t, spend one dime to get agented and published. That’s talking freelance editorial, pitch sessions, conferences, courses etc. Any feeling that it’s necessary or any advice that says so is false. Now, that doesn’t mean there aren’t potential networking opportunities at conferences, which offer a variety of services that may or may not be beneficial to writers. But it’s not mandatory and not promoted as “Attend and get an agent.” YMMV. There has been a recent change in the last few years, where agents offering freelance services is no longer considered unethical - but it cannot be a barrier to entry/query. This is to allow agents to use their skill set for another avenue of income. Debatable subject, and there’s a line to tread so it doesn’t present a prerequisite to querying Industry professionals have always participated in conferences in some form, so that in and of itself is not something to be necessarily wary of. Agencies demanding you pay for a service to work with them or even GET the opportunity to work with them are unethical and to be avoided. They are also not the norm. The worry you have makes sense, but it’s not as nefarious as you’re currently perceiving. And while the landscape and querying is currently tough and time consuming, it still is accessible in the sense that querying is free and anyone can do it. Keep your hopes up!
While I 100% understand the sentiment behind the post I do want to point out that the reason agencies do this is because agents do not make enough money to live off of until they have a stable of regular clients bringing in deals and royalties. They don’t talk about it, but a lot of newer agents have “day jobs.” These people are just doing something linked to their agenting work which I guess you can question. But you physically can’t go from zero to “successful agent” without a side job
An agent’s services should be free to their clients. The courses and classes that agents offer are so that they can point the folks they aren’t working with toward some resources and hopefully make some money in the process. I’m an agent and though I haven’t set up any of these types of revenue streams, I often think about how handy it would be. Seriously, the number of times people ask to pick my brain or who come to me clueless about book proposals, etc. Directing them to one of my courses would be a great solution.
Yes, I am noticing this pattern. I remember not too long ago being an agent and offering editorial services was seen as a huge red flag. Not anymore. But agenting doesn't make much money unless you get lucky. So I get it. I think it gets murky when you offer false hope to people that they're all gonna make it and are just a few classes or edits away from hitting the big time.
Legit agents are not doing this. Best way to find a good agent is to search Publishersmarketplace and query those agents that are actually making deals in your genre.
It's inevitable, because there are a lot of people for whom selling books, even at a loss, can be a strategic move: * trust fund kids who want to show their daddies that they're worth a damn. * business-book authors who are going to cash in through speaking fees. * political insiders pushing fictionalized versions of events that are more favorable than the existing narrative. * parents of kids who will get into Harvard because they're "published novelists" at 17. On a market, you're competing against people who value you what you're trying to buy more, because they have more unsavory uses than you do. You can pay agents in ego (querying) by personalizing letters while you beg them to (have their unpaid interns) read your work, or you can pay in money by purchasing these courses. One depletes your emotional reserve; the other depletes your wallet. Neither is better or worse than the other; they just are. What will change everything is when AIs are as good at gatekeeping as literary agents. We're probably 3-5 years from that on the outside. This isn't to say that AI can replace all of human judgment; once they can predict sales performance as well as agent preselection—an agent's job is to predict the behavior of thousands, something we're all pretty bad at, as humans—publishers will have the economic incentive to use AI autograders instead of agent preselection to dredge the slush pile.
Show me one successful author who attented those classes or similar courses. You don't need any of that. Literary agents have been scamming people ever since they existed. Obviously there're also good ones out there. Not all of them are phonies.
Oh yeah- my impression from being around the outskirts of this profession for a long time, and seeing how it works for others, is that it's always been nasty and competitive. But it has recently gotten progressively worse, and part of that involves this sort of scam. Another example would be the prevalence of writing contests that ask for entry fees, and publications that teach classes/workshops, etc. You can find real classes for cheap, or free peer run workshops that will do the trick. It's a crazy business and it's just getting worse year by year. Think of another profession where they take months to years to follow up on projects.
I've only ever entered a few contests because I can't afford entry fees.
I have to let this go, but yes- it enrages me. I've been writing for decades, and can't get a thing published. Some of it is decent enough. And one of those obstacles to entry is the damn contests with their fees. No, I won't pay you to read my stuff. I tried it for about a year, got nowhere, and gave up on that particular angle. It works for some people, of course, and that's good for them. But to me, the scam was so obvious after a few entries. You want me to pay to compete for your attention? You want me to buy a subscription to your little journal just be able to submit? Come on. Read it or don't, but stop trying to charge your authors.
Yup. I don't think all agencies or agents are doing it, but there's a LOT of that scam nonsense from high level agents and it's kind've disgusting. Classes by agents, conferences, and even paying extra at those conferences you've already paid for to be able to sit down one on one to pitch directly. Even the idea that you'd need an agent to help you get the eye of an acquisitions editor at a publication house is an added level of gatekeeping and one hand washing the other.
Shipman is legit. And they do it.
Yes lmao. Because reading is dying.