Should I get an agent before submitting to a small press?

[mtlogan]

Hi Nathan,

I'm an aspiring mystery writer. The other day, I ran across a post on David Morrell's web site about the current state of the publishing industry.

http://www.davidmorrell.net/whatsnew/dsp.whatsnew.cfm

He advises new authors to submit to small presses. Should I try to get an agent first?

Many thanks for your time,
Marianne

[sbs_mjc1]

Yes.

http://editorialass.blogspot.com/2008/0 ... ented.html

[steve]

No

[bcomet]

Hi mtlogan,


Best of luck! Let us know how it goes.

[Mira]

Well, at least you're getting some clear answers here.

I have no idea, actually, but I wonder - why not do both? Look for an agent, and a small publisher? Seems like if you find either, it's a good thing. Win-win?

[mtlogan]

sbs_mjc1,
Many thanks for referring me to the article, why you should never submit unagented to publishing companies, by Editorial Ass. I'm convinced. When I finally get ready to submit, I'll definitely first get an agent. It's said that a lawyer who represents him- or herself has a fool for a client. It looks likes the same can be said of authors.

Again, many, many, thanks,
Marianne

[TigerGray]

I am curious if Moonrat's advice applies to very small presses, like Candlemark and Gleam. They're only E book at the moment and their terms seem quite straightforward, whereas EdAss seems to be talking about working directly with the NY big guys.

[Nathan Bransford]

My feeling is, it depends. If your project is very niche-oriented and if you're planning to go directly to a university press or a publisher that offers very small and/or no advance, the odds that you're going to land an agent are small enough that you may not judge it worth your time to go through the whole query process. I would advise that you have someone who knows about publishing contracts take a look before you sign, but realistically agents probably aren't going to go for a "small" book (no judgment there).

However, for all the reasons Moonrat mentions in that post linked to above, when in doubt I'd try and query agents.

[longknife]

What if you get a publishing contract with a small or niche-oriented publisher?
And then, your book does well and other, bigger publishers show interest in it? {Like Clancey?]

[Nathan Bransford]

What if you get a publishing contract with a small or niche-oriented publisher?
And then, your book does well and other, bigger publishers show interest in it? {Like Clancey?]

I think you answered your own question ;-)