What Authors Should Know About Agency Agreements

Navigating the literary world as a debut author can be a difficult and frustrating experience. Many successful authors choose to hire a literary agent to help them through the publishing process. Literary agents help authors by providing their industry knowledge and leveraging their connections to help sell an author's book. Before an agent will represent an author, the agent will require the author to sign a contract that outlines the terms of the business relationship. Like all contracts, there are certain provisions and terms that authors should carefully consider and questions that the author should ask before signing an agency agreement.

WHAT IS A LITERARY AGENT?

A literary agent is a person who helps authors turn their ideas into published books. Literary agents help authors pitch their books to publishers by preparing or editing book proposals and reviewing and editing manuscripts. Good literary agents are well connected in the publishing industry and can