A Life in the Day

I'm sure we have all reached a point in our lives where everything comes into question. Am I good enough? Am I worth it? Do I deserve it? What if I fail again? Writers deal with self-doubt all of the time and I know because I get those calls from clients when they reach the finish line, when all the words have been written and the book has really taken shape where the niggling feeling of "this is not my best work" comes into play. All it takes is one critique partner to not enthusiastically react to the work the way the author had hoped to send them into a corner, knees drawn up wondering if they should ever write another word. Writers are not the only ones. I can't speak for other agents when I say this but I can assure you that there are many days where I wonder if I'm good enough. Can I do this? Can I really live off 15%? Can I sell this manuscript to New York? Can I get my client what they deserve? Can I... can I... can I? My mantra on a post-it note ...

Just a few of my clients As the writer conferences continue to fill up and folks start to make appointments with various agents and editors to pitch their work, I hear the proverbial "you don't need an agent to query epubs" and I sigh, turn my iPad sideways and start writing a blog post about why, yes, you DO need representation. So... here are just a few good reasons to have an agent in your corner when publishing in ePub or otherwise. Sale of sub-rights - You still need an agent to do this. Audio, foreign language, movie/TV, etc. are still managed through agents. If you're not aiming for the sale of these rights for your work, then yes, you may not need an agent. If you're aiming high, get an agent! Contract negotiation / Advice - Yes, you can do this on your own and those who understand contract law (specifically publishing contracts) can negotiate the contract without having to pay someone 15% commission but if you're not sure about what...