What Literary Agents Look for on the Offer Call

The offer call can be stressful for all parties involved, but literary agents Jessica Faust and James McGowan discuss what agents are looking for on the offer call so that you might be better prepared for the conversation.
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Jessica Faust’s love for books is what first brought her to open BookEnds Literary Agency. It is her desire to be an advocate for all authors that pushed her to create her blog, the BookEnds KZbin channel and to maintain a vibrant presence on Twitter.
Jessica is proud to have grown BookEnds to an agency that represents authors of all genres for children and adults, allowing her to reach more readers and help more authors and illustrators achieve their dreams.
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James McGowan is a Literary Agent at BookEnds and writer for children. He began working with the agency as an intern in the summer of 2015, and basically never left. He represents a talented group of authors and illustrators working in everything from board books to middle grade graphic novels. He also works in adult nonfiction, and adult mystery and suspense projects. James is the author of GOOD NIGHT OPPY, which is available now.
Connect with BookEnds!
Twitter: bookendslit
Instagram: bookends_literary
Website: www.bookendsliterary.com
Connect with Jessica: bookendsjessica
Connect with James: jmcgowanbks

[@leenaronalds4155]

Agents often talk about the writer's vision aligning with theirs. We very rarely hear about agents whose vision aligns with the wirter's. Debut writers may initially be so grateful to be approached by an agent at all, that they could end up feeling pressured to agree to every one of the agent's recommendations for change on a MS. I think it's very important to point out that writers should be given the opportunity to make a strong case for their work; after all, it's their book and nobody else's. Having listened to agent interviews and podcasts over the years I am always struck by those agents who say: "If the writer doesn't agree to my recommended changes then we can't work together. I only sign up writers that share my vision," or words to that effect. This comes across as narrow-minded, unreasonable, and dismissive.

[@BookEndsLiterary]

This is definitely an important distinction to make - both agent and writer's visions must align with one another. Sometimes it's the case that when these visions don't align, an agent might not be the best suited to help an author bring their book to where they want it to be, so the agent may step aside. An agent who understands your vision and agrees with it is definitely more valuable than any other agent

[@marygeorge2467]

I hope I'm lucky enough to find an agent like you two. You're so open and engaging, and you make it clear that you are excited, looking for your next author/agent partnership. It's all a new author can hope for!

[@clintoreilly]

Noted. We'll said and I agree 101% A wise man once said, 'writing is not a solo act, but rather a duo between writer/editor writer/agent

[@copascribe7472]

I just want to say you are both extraordinary human beings. Thank you for breaking down this crazy industry for us (and making querying a little less daunting). Your videos always motivate me!

[@lisakaufman3029]

I've always been told that I was born asking questions and have never ceased! I plan on asking questions just as if I'm asking questions of an interviewee for one of my freelance articles because I already have my article, manuscript/career, written prior to the call to whomever I'm interviewing!

[@AndrewWatsonChangingWay]

Thanks! I love the way you emphasize author control.

[@wellnessofmindandbody]

I always look forward to your videos :)

[@bethanycamille5379]

I'll be pitching my YA retelling to agents in the next few months, and I have such a good, strong feeling that I will land a deal. It's very exciting! Love these videos! They're helping me prepare :)

[@natashasantos892]

Love your vibe, Jessica! I'm that type where I live to get to know a person on a personal level as well. But, I would rather do it over wine or even tea! And James, I love your vibe as well! And! Yes! Life is short! Hoping to query Bookends soon! 🤞

[@natashasantos892]

I meant love, not live!

[@shelbymaalouf4261]

Thanks for this video ! It’s really interesting to see the whole matchmaking process of agents and authors !

[@ritareinecker7990]

This is wonderful information! Thank you!!

[@NR-rv8rz]

A couple of questions about using Query Tracker and also about agencies/agents. I'm in the UK, does QT feature UK agents and publishers or is it focused only/mainly on the USA. A second question is, how can I distinguish between good, well connected and organized, energetic and pro-active agencies/agents . . . and agencies/agents who just take on clients and send out your book to publishers but aren't that dynamic in fighting for you (I just assume there are the two types).

[@jaybe8877]

Love all your videos, binge watched a ton in the past few days. I have a question not really related to this video but it's something that's been bothering me & I couldn't find a clear answer online. 1. As an author that (mostly) writes YA/MG but with Fantasy/Sci-Fi elements - should I only approach agents that represent both YA/MG & Fantasy/Sci-Fi? In the past that's what I've done, but lately I've been questioning (due to the fact that YA/MG books aren't one genre by itself but typically include another genre like Fantasy/Mystery/Sci-fi etc.) my hesitance to query many YA/MG agents who don't list a second genre, which is also important to my story. [A good example is James (always a joy to watch), who lists Middle-Grade but does not list Fantasy or Sci-Fi.] 2. If I were to have future desire (who knows the future?) to write adult fantasy & sci-fi, should that change my approach, or due to so many uncertainties & the ability to ask this to the specific agent (if I were to get one, hopefully soon), make no difference to my YA/MG queries? Thank you.

[@BookEndsLiterary]

Hi there! So glad you've found our videos helpful. We have actually been getting questions like this a lot lately, so I think we'll try to do a video on that soon! There's definitely more to the answer than I think can effectively be typed now

[@jaybe8877]

@@BookEndsLiterary Thank you, you are all so amazing! Will be looking out for that. ❤

[@andeeharry]

Thanks for this....I am so bad on the phone.

[@cashpat2000]

Story of my life.

[@cashpat2000]

Me...binging on the videos hoping for a call... Guys you do have my number, right?☺️☺️

[@anahata2009]

Thank you for this! It prompts a question for me, and I don't know where to ask it except for here. I'm a writer based in the USA. However, I'm querying widely, including in the UK & Ireland (because it's highly likely I'll be moving overseas within the next 5 years). I often see commission rates listed for agents on domestic vs foreign rights. So I'm puzzled: Is the distinction of "foreign rights" based on sub rights sold outside of the writer's home county, the publisher's country? Or what? Example: American writer gets agent in UK. UK agent finds publisher in UK. But rights are also sold in USA. Which of those rights is foreign and which is domestic? Does it change if agent and publisher are in the EU (let's say Ireland, for example), and sub rights are sold in another EU country? Because why not make myself crazy about things that haven't even happened yet? 🙄😉 But really, I'd like to stay optimistic and think this question will eventually matter. Thanks for generously sharing so much info and perspective.

[@BookEndsLiterary]

Great question! Hopefully I can answer it in a way that clarifies things. Foreign or translation rights typically refer to the rights to translate and/or publish the book outside of the territories/language of the publisher the book is initially sold to. In your example, an American author with a UK-based agent selling their book to a UK publisher can sell the book in a few primary ways. They can sell for [1] world English rights (the publisher can publish/sell the book anywhere in the world in English, and the author retains translation rights), they can sell for [2] world all language rights (the publisher can publish/sell the book in any language anywhere in the world), or they can sell [3] UK rights (the publisher can publish/sell the book in English in the UK; the author retains rights to sell their book to a US publisher in English, and retains translation rights). In example [2], the publisher holds all foreign/translation rights, so the author doesn't have to worry about them. In examples [1] and [3], the author and agent can submit to foreign publishers to sell the book again in other territories and languages. These deals would typically be considered the subsidiary/"foreign" deals since they are outside of the primary deal with the UK publisher.

[@alabambam1]

If you are an author and have used a ghostwriter to write your book would a literary agent still be interested in representing that author?

[@successgoalsIINAcademy]

So interesting that there are only 41ish comments, do you realize how many wonderful stories are out there just waiting to be discovered? How many first time authors are sitting on world changing manuscripts that will just never been read by the world because the author is afraid of rejection? Thinking it's just too hard or it won't happen for them? Crazy. If I were and agent I would think of it like a numbers game, the more you sort through the more likely you are to find more dimonds.

[@Ruthie888]

Sounds like a romance.

[@captainmgtowschool5132]

Still looking for books that are good I keep putting them down fillers one book whole page on pop he drinks. They need to kis5en to you

[@jasminekrouse8676]

I feel like 90% of authors in an agent’s slush pile would enthusiastically change anything to make the manuscript submission ready to editors. I don’t know if J&J understands how thirsty their viewers are. “My murder is actually the love interest? You got it!”

[@BookEndsLiterary]

We totally understand this mindset, but we also definitely hope to encourage and empower authors to know that they should not feel they have to make changes that fundamentally don't align with their vision for the book/that they aren't happy with! This is just with the understanding that if those visions don't align, that specific agent might not be the best business partner because they might not be able to take the book in the direction the author wants to go

[@petergrossi6605]

Do you guys represent screenwriters?

[@ShogunOrta]

So....its a first date. But one where youre sort of...already talking about marriage.

[@michaelburke4048]

Now I have to wonder, what percentage of the time do you get to "the call" and you do not offer a contract? Before this video, I would have guessed that was a low percent. Basically, the author turned out to be the unibomber or something. Now it sounds like it is the most common case. Or was this video just concentrating on the edge cases?

[@BookEndsLiterary]

Hi! Several of our agents agreed that it is more common to offer rep after a call than to not. So not offering is not the most common case :)

[@michaelburke4048]

@@BookEndsLiterary Excellent. Thank you for responding.

[@jayingram3326]

My 24 year old son graduated from PENN STATE with an engineering degree. I'm retired actor/writer with 30 years in Hollywood. I've had a successful You Tube channel on AMC, CME and SNDL. So son Cade wrote an incredible film with this greatest transfer of wealth plot and the China - Russian takeover. Interested? I was with Gersh in Hollywood while I was head writer for Bob Clark. They're too big for Cade. Let us know. Thanks.

[@alandavies3727]

Don’t bother with agents- they’re full of useless waffle. The chances of getting them to accept anything from a unknown author is nil. It’s far better to self publish. This is the only way that you’ll ever get to see your work. If these people knew what would be a success they’ll all be multi millionaires . Most of them have never had a book published themselves. Don’t listen to them. Do your own thing, be brave. Why would you expect somebody else to put up their money if you’re not prepared to put up your own. Most of the top authors in the past were turned down by people like this.

[@ritareinecker7990]

I self-published my memoir. Biggest mistake! Their layout was good.... But...Their marketing was way below par, and when they asked me if I'd like them to "feature" my book at the Frankfurt Book Fair, I jumped at it. Cost: $1800. Turned out they placed my book on a big table with hundreds of other books! "Featured"??? Kirkus Reviews gave me a great review, plus one more from a best-selling author. They never built on that. I'd say, don't give up. You'll find the right agent for your book! I'm doing some minor edits, then I plan to relaunch it.... through an agent.

[@alandavies3727]

@@ritareinecker7990 The chances of you getting a agent is nil! You should have got a proper PR Marketing company to promote your work. I certainly would not pay anybody $1800 to place my book in one time event. Books take a long time to promote. When ‘Harry Potter’ was released in England nobody was interested. It was a flop! It was only when it went to America that it became a hit. Some books are slow burners. Good luck with your work.We all deserve a bit of luck.

[@ritareinecker7990]

@@alandavies3727 their idea of marketing came down to this: I asked them to also send news releases to German newspapers. When they gave me the list of papers they sent them to, most of them were foreign-language papers! Like Turkish, for instance! None were sent to American papers or magazines. For that they charged me $4500! I’m German and I was born and raised in Germany, so I was thinking of also publishing it in Germany. Like I said, I plan on relaunching it… wish me luck!

[@alandavies3727]

@@ritareinecker7990 $4500 that’s like a horror story, blimey you’ve been put through the mill!! All you can ever do is what Bob Dylan would say. You’ve got to keep on keeping on. Never give up.

[@ritareinecker7990]

@@alandavies3727 in the end, the total cost of publishing my book was $17K!!! I sold my beloved 2009 Mercedes’ convertible to do it!!! I designed and printed my own direct mail campaign. It all added up.

[@angadsingh1464]

Sometimes I think you guys think too high about yourself. Romanticized existence! Is it arrogance, elitism or just naivete', who knows? It's time to roll over and see things as they are. - Zimi Angad Singh