This whole thread. A bad agent, even an ok agent who is a bad agent for YOU, is worse than no agent. https://twitter.com/courtneymilan/status/1361016259614187520

It doesn't feel that way when you've never been agented. I remember side-eyeing people who said this when I was looking for an agent and couldn't get interest. I thought, well, easy for *you* to say, author with an agent, it's a completely different position -and frankly, it is.

Getting an agent is a milestone in an author's life, and it's potentially a huge step in one's career. But I've seen too many people who got the wrong agent for them - not even a bad actor, just a mismatch - who does not sell the work, and authors get stuck.

Then there are the bad actors, people who gained a reputation behind the scenes - and new writers might not even know about this. You get agented with a bad actor, they might sell your work, and/or they might gaslight you. Agents of all kinds are super hard to leave.

I have seen too many careers stall or end entirely because of an agent mismatch, and I've witnessed many trainwrecks with bad actors. And I've seen incredible, talented, usually marginalized authors struggle to get any agent interest at all.

As an author, it is super difficult to talk frankly in public about agenting difficulties, or difficulties with past agents. Whisper networks exist for this reason, but whisper networks are not accessible to all, and often are least accessible to neurodiverse authors.

I have a lot more to say about this, but better not.