Even With An Agent, You Still Have Work To Do

I think a lot of people believe that when they get an agent, they can turn all of their attention back to simply writing. "I'm going to let my agent take care of things for me," they say. 

Ahhh, so sorry young Jedi. There is still much work to be done. 

The agent's role is to act as a liaison between you and the publishers. We work WITH you as you develop your manuscripts. We discuss new project ideas WITH you. 

We research new locations for your manuscripts and market your manuscripts, but YOU also can do this work. 

The important thing to remember is that you have to be a participant in this business relationship. We can't write the books for you. 

I remember talking to a friend who had an agent at a pretty great agency. He had been signed with this manuscript at least 5 years before. He hadn't done anything since that time but knew that "if something came up with that manuscript, he would be totally excited." Excuse me? He has been out of contact with the agent for 5+ years? That agent has written this guy off. If he were to even send a new project in to the agent, the odds are the agent would pass on the project. Why? The author has done nothing.

It is 100% up to the author to keep the agent apprised of everything they are working on. New project idea? Let the agent know. Going to a conference and want to meet with someone? Let them know. New project you are working on? Send it to them so they can read it. 

I have to say, it is always frustrating as an agent when you have someone who you believed in. They had some great ideas or wanted to do some different things, and then the AUTHOR does not follow through. I have had several authors I worked with who wanted to do some great things with projects I knew would work. I would contact them and say, "Send it! I talked to an editor and he/she was excited about it." 

And then crickets. 

You need to understand that the authors out there doing great things are being PROACTIVE! They are staying on their editor's and agent's radars. They are doing their research. They are shifting when they see the market shift. 

The question is, what are YOU doing?