Re: LRT and the general conversation about agents these days. I’ve sometimes talked to newbie authors who think that the adage “A bad agent is worse than no agent” is an exaggeration.

The thinking usually goes like this: I can’t get my work in front of editors without an agent, therefore I’m not even in the game without an agent, and isn’t it better to be in the game?

The answer is really, REALLY, a ”no,” on multiple fronts.

1. It is possible (just harder) to get your work in front of editors without an agent.

2. Bad agents encompass *so much room*. There are bad agents who will take you on as a client and never send out your work. Or send it out to the wrong people, who don’t want to acquire your work, sealing your chances at that house before you’ve had a chance.

3. This mindset almost certainly indicates that you think that an agent is the key that unlocks all the doors. This is actually not a great way to think about someone who is a business partner, and bad agents will use the fact that you think this way against you.

Bad agents will tell you what you should and should not write, in ways that can be personally devastating. Imagine what it would feel like, as a lesbian, to be told that nobody wants to read about lesbians because that’s gross, and you should write m/m instead.

Bad agents will tell you things like, “I do not think it’s possible for someone like you to make a living in publishing” and make you feel like crap because you’re pushing for your own career.

4. Bad agents may not pass on concerns you have to a publisher. Some bad agents will explicitly tell a publisher that you have concerns, and then tell the publisher that they don’t expect them to act on those concerns and the agent will manage your expectations.

And none of the things I’ve talked about above are technically unethical. They are just soul-destroying, career-destroying.

Some agents are good agents, but maybe not right for you, personally. Some agents are decent agents, but can’t negotiate their way out of a paper bag.

And some agents are bad news, bears.

5. The best thing you can do for your career is to believe, very strongly, that you are the person who knows best what your path should be.

Not an agent. Not an editor.

You can be open to brainstorming, suggestions, comments, analysis.

But you are in charge.

If someone out there tells you your path is bad and wrong and it *hurts* in a way that’s not just “sometimes the truth hurts and I need to improve” but “I feel my soul being crushed” then the best move for your career is to remove the rock from your soul.

6. There are some people who just do not mesh with certain agents, where the dynamic is bad for them but the agent might work well with other clients.

Some people want more guidance from an agent than others, and that is okay to want.

Some people want an agent who does critique rounds and some people absolutely do not.

When you’re new and just starting out, you don’t always know what you do and don’t want.

So it’s also okay to make mistakes. Yes, a bad agent is worse than no agent, but you know what?

You can turn a bad agent into no agent VERY QUICKLY.

7. This is why a trust group is so important. Have friends. Friends who have lots of different agents. Friends who you can say, “my agent told me this. Does this make sense?”

8. Not everyone outside your trust group will tell you the truth about agents. Some will withhold true but damning stories because they don’t want to start shit. Others will exaggerate true but less consequential stories because they *do* want to start shit.

There’s a lot of guess work that you have to go through to figure out whose words you should trust.

There are agents who are on my “not with a ten-foot pole” list that are vocally trusted and backed up by prominent clients.

9. We’ve talked a lot about how damaging it was for RWA to do nothing about Dreamspinner for ages. But there are also agents who did nothing—or worse, kept sending people over—while clients weren’t getting paid.

One of the most painful things that agents do is treat the publisher as if they are the client, and themselves as talent scouts.

This person might get you a deal, but it will bite you.

The agent who thinks that their relationship with a publisher is more important than their relationship with an author is not functioning as an agent.

Your agent represents YOU. Period.