I have some experience with agents. As a working actor, as I once was, having a talent agent was more or less a necessity. Sure there were a few ‘unrepresented’ actors but for the most part, having representation was the ticket into the casting studio, not only because they had their finger on the pulse of who was casting what and when, but because many casting directors either sent casting information only directly to agents or wouldn’t consider an unrepresented actor credible enough to consider for a part. And most of us are happy – thrilled, in some cases – to have them. An agent validated our self-proclaimed title of ‘actor’ and we didn’t have to scour the casting workbook hoping to spot the audition for which we knew we were the right one.
Typically, agents get the actor in the door, the actor wows the casting director and then lands the part - for which the agent takes fifteen percent of the earnings. True, the agent acts as sort of the pimp in this transaction 
- a joke my agent at the time found less clever than I - but without them we really didn't get access to the work so we were happy to share that cut. Furthermore, the agent handled all those distasteful details like invoices, receipts and contracts. It was a price worth paying.
Literary agents, I suspect, because I don't have one, work in a similar fashion, at least in so much as they likely are paid a percentage of an author's earnings. But unlike an actor, who is constantly going out to auditions - in my heyday, I was auditioning three to four times a week - I can't help but wonder about what role the literary agent provides. I can't be pitching new stories every week: my book producing pace has been about one every three to four years (that's a topic for another column).
For a new author, a literary agent may well be the conduit through which the unknown author gets his or her manuscript through the publisher's door for consideration. I suspect this is particularly true with some of the larger publishing companies - your Random House or Harper Collins - who may consider more credible an author who has been taken on by an agent. And if agents charge a percentage of an author's sales, it would appear there's little risk to the author. Indeed, based on the paltry earnings one can expect as a Canadian author, one wonders how an agent can make a living representing Canadian writers. True, some less than reputable agents will charge authors fees up front for reading and evaluating manuscripts, for the most part, like his talent agent cousin, the literary agent is only going to make money when he makes money for his author client.
That said, is having an agent really worth the effort of trying to obtain one? Let's face it; I'm not exactly rolling around in Walter White cash 
. Having an agent means parting with fifteen percent of what little money I earn in royalties so my take home is even less. Sure, again, I'm not in it for the money but when Canadian sales figures are what they are, is splitting the meager take a good idea? I imagine the idea is that agents will better help the work to be promoted, therefore increasing sales and royalties, rightfully earning the agent a greater sum from his or her commission.
But literary agents, particularly in Canada, are a scarce breed and getting one to consider me is likely a daunting prospect. According to the Writers' Union of Canada, roughly eighty percent of published Canadian authors are unrepresented. With so few agents in the country, getting one to take on an author, even one with a couple of published books in his portfolio could well prove to be a daunting challenge.
And here's the other twist: what I'm really seeking an agent for is to help try to find production deals for both Deadly Lessons and Last Dance, and for that matter, W3.doc, when it's finally completed. And from what admittedly little research I've done on reputable Canadian literary agencies, the first couple I've found clearly state they don't represent screenplays, which is fair enough because right now, I don't have a screenplay for any of my books. That's part of what I want a literary agent to help me obtain: a production arrangement that could include writing of a screenplay.
In the meantime, I'm open to hearing people's experiences about working with or even trying to obtain literary agency representation.
One more thing to add to my 'to-do' list.
Next week: W3.doc. Where were we?
