I have been approached by a literary agent about the possibility of my writing a book, for the general public, about my area of academic expertise. (She initiated things, not me.) We have not yet talked, just exchanged a couple of emails. I would like to do it, but although I have published a fair few academic articles, some pretty long, I have no experience with writing or publishing books or anything else for money (apart from a handful of specialized encyclopedia entries, for a nominal fee). I would be grateful for any advice from the professional writers out there about the process of getting and negotiating a contract (I assume one needs a contract) with an agent, and what might lie beyond. What sort of percentage would it reasonable for an agent to get, for instance?
The agent is with the Susan Golomb Literary Agency in New York, if that means anything to anybody.
I’m unfamiliar with the agency, but if she contacted you, she probably has ties to your area of expertise. It’s highly unusual for an agent to go out hunting down authors who have never written a book – successful agents usually have writers beating their doors down. I’d carefully check the agency and talk to some of your contacts in the field about the specific agent. It’s perfectly okay to ask her for a list of her clients and talk to some of them.
Yes, yes, yes, you need a contract. And spend a few bucks to have an attorney familiar with the field review it. In academic writing, agents are not strictly necessary. I’ve published both technical books and children’s books (23 total) without having an agent. The fact that she contacted you may mean that she already has a publisher lined up that’s interested in what you do. That alone could be worth her 10-15%.
Generally, agents take a percentage of what you earn from your books. It’s okay to put something in the contract limiting it to work in that specific field (she wouldn’t get a cut of that novel you’ll be writing someday), and it’s also okay to exclude publishers you have an existing relationship with.
Unlike novels, academic and nonfiction books are generally sold before they’re written. You’ll put in a detailed proposal with outlines and copies of some of your related articles, but you won’t actually start writing the book until you have an advance in hand. Don’t get too excited about the advance, though. For an academic first book, it won’t be very big.
Susan Golomb is a legitimate agency with some big name clients. Here’s a 2004 article about her. The only negative I can find is that she’s changed assistants recently (the new one is Terra) and there were some reports of the previous assistant not responding.
That is the standard. I assume she hasn’t changed it since 2004 but I’ve heard of some agents trying to bump that up. If she contacted you, though, the extra few percent might be worth it because the rest of the money is practically guaranteed. It’s up to you.
I pretty much second what the Wombat said. Except that some old-line agencies don’t use a contract. I don’t have one and my agent is an old big name, old being the operative word. Contracts are the norm these days, though.
You’re in a good situation. Agent contracts tend to be quite straightforward. It’s the book contract that are nightmares and that’s what you want a good agent for.
I used to work for a publishing company and everything Wombat and Expano said is right on. I worked as the Graphic Designer in marketing and so my knowledge of these things is limited, but what I picked up while working there sounds like something our company did when they were trying to find a Christian alternative to “The Secret.” Listen to the advice given above and do your homework on the agent and the publisher. If you do get an advance I’d put it away. I’ve heard of publishers demanding money back if things fall through. The company I worked for didn’t do this, but I’ve heard of others that do. This last part might not even be a factor, but again do your homework. Once you have a contract in hand have a lawyer look it over.
Good luck.
Thanks people. I had my first phone conversation with Terra today. We did not get to talking about contracts or money yet, but I think things seem promising, and I will be more prepared for when we get to that stage. She seems keen and wiling to work with me on developing a direction for it.
Now I need to learn about outlining. I am not in the habit of doing much pre-planning for my academic articles; I start out with a point I want to make and let it develop. Maybe when it is half written I will see the need for some re-organization and scribble out a rough plan before I move paragraphs around and link them up again properly, but it is all very informal. Now I need to do it properly. Any suggestions as to books or websites with good guides to outlining (for non-fiction) would be welcome.
For a nonfiction proposal you don’t want an outline like in a technical manual. Better to do an overall précis of the book and then summarize what each chapter will contribute. (Thank you for giving me an opportunity to use précis. )
I Googled on how to write a nonfiction book proposal. The first hit is a good summary. Some of the others have the same general advice (the one from SPAWN is longer) so you can pick out the elements that would suit you best.
Wow, congrats! My guess is she was looking for non-fiction is a certain field that is going to be hot (maybe tied to something else – a movie, a new series, an Oprah special) and your name/articles came up.
Good point (although I’ve sold nonfiction through an outline), but the most important factor is following the publisher’s submission guidelines to the freaking letter. If they only accept proposals on loose pages in green ink in a purple file folder, then do it. I’m convinced that some publishers create special requirements just to weed out who can and can’t follow directions.
The last nonfiction book I sold I pretty much recreated the proposal for each new publisher after it was turned down (third publisher was the charm).
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