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| A great resource. |
Agents are not easy to come by anymore. It was different back in the 1990s when the spec screenplay market was red hot. Everyone was looking for the next million dollar script. Now screenplay agents mainly focus on television writers and rewrite specialists who serve as steady ATMs for the agencies. The hard work of developing new writers is left to managers now.
The environment for book agents seems to have changed as well. When I wrote my memoir The Promise, or the Pros and Cons of Talking with God, a number of agents requested to read my book. Although I found a publisher before I found an agent, I got great feedback from the agents and they alerted me to a couple of potential trouble spots in my narrative. Nowadays, pitching has become very impersonal. Most established literary agencies have automated pitch pages now, which create a dispiriting barrier between the writer and the potential representative.
Happily, I was approached a subagent of a established literary agent on Linkedin. (Wow, who would have thought Linkedin would actually prove useful?) She had read about my unpublished novel Chapel Street. I ceased all additional pitching while we talked. I liked her spiel. She said they represented the whole writer. They wanted to represent everything I wrote. I liked the concept of one stop representation (in theory).
I also learned a lot about "platform," and how your platform seemed to be more important than your actual book itself. She liked my "platform." The subagent also helped me create an excellent pitch book for the novel. Things were going well. She sent me a contract. All I had to do was sign on the dotted line and I would have the rarest of things: A Literary Agent!
But I didn't like the contract. On the bright side, it had a pretty good escape clause. Either side could get out of the contract with thirty days notice. They wanted 15% commission on book contracts. That's traditional. I had no problem with that. I did have a problem with the 25% commission on movie rights. That is actually traditional, too. The agencies always want their 15%, but, with film rights book people usually need to bring in a movie agent for an additional 10%. (Screenplays agents can only legally charge 10% in California.)
Here's my problem. I have no doubt I could get a movie deal for Chapel Street on my own. People had already expressed interest. If need be, I felt I could probably raise the money myself to produce it. I didn't see why I should pay 25% for movie rights to the agency if I did all of the work myself. I pushed backed.
So far I had only been dealing with the subagent. When I wanted to talk contract, she said she had to bring the big agent into the conversation. Then she suddenly dropped off the face of the earth. I am not a pest, but I sent her a few emails over a couple of weeks and got no response. Then, about a month later, I heard from another subagent. She told me that my initial contact had left the company. The new subagent was taking over. I expressed my concerns about the contract and she set up a conference call with the real agent.
I found the agent fascinating and I learned a lot. He explained how having a movie deal for a novel did not necessarily enhance the prospects of publication unless the film was slated for wide release. He was also unwilling to budge on the 25%. The most he would do was exclude deals with specific people at specific production companies with whom I had existing, ongoing relationships. That wasn't good enough for me since I am constantly being approached by strangers. He touted his agency's success with film rights. He said they had an agent who worked exclusively on film rights. That agent, however, was not a signatory with the Writers Guild of America, west. I didn't want to trust my screenwriting career to a non-WGA agent. Especially at 25%.
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| For comparison, look at the simple one page deal for representing my script Mr Inside from Paradigm. |
While these discussions were going on, I researched the agent. I reached out to some of his existing clients and they just LOVED him. They thought he was the best thing since sliced bread. However, the writers I spoke with only dealt with books. They didn't share my dilemma. Additionally, it seemed like these writers were getting deals through the agent with publishers open to dealing directly with authors. If the agent had been getting them in Harper Collins and Simon and Schuster, my decision might have been different!
I was still interested enough to send the contract to my lawyer to get his opinion. He didn't like it. He didn't like their binding arbitration clause. He didn't like the 25%. And he most certainly didn't like the idea of me paying a commission to them on deals they did not procure.
According to the contract, I would have to pay them a commission on everything I wrote whether they procured the deals or not. That was a big problem, especially since most of my income as a writer comes from commissioned work. People find me and ask me to write things for them: Features, narrative shorts, instructional films, industrials and even the odd commercial. If I signed with this agency, I would be on the hook to them for 25% of all of those deals. To further underscore my misgivings, I was approached about two feature projects while my lawyer was reading the contract. It seemed absurd to have to pay a percentage on those deals.
I sent the subagent an email detailing my lawyer's concerns. I said I would happily sign with them for books. I was even willing to pay the 25% for film rights on books they represented. However, I would not pay a commission on deals they did not procure. I do not think I was being unreasonable. It would be one thing if offers were coming to me because of a reputation they had built for me, but that was not the case. People were coming to me because of the "platform" I had built for myself.
The subagent wrote me back. She had discussed my terms with her boss and they opted against signing me. They really wanted to handle the whole writer.
And that was that.
Maybe I made a mistake, but I doubt it. The deal was simply not equitable. They could potentially make more money piggy-backing off my film work than I would make from any book deal they arranged. Do I think they were dishonest? No, not at all. They just had a way of doing business that didn't work for me. Would I recommend that you avoid them? No, not necessarily. If you only write books, this might be a good deal for you.
My biggest regret was that the negotiations took me and my novel off the market for over two months.
Oh well. Once again into the breach!
Preview my new novel Chapel Street on Amazon that inspired the query:
Listen to me read some chapters here:
Chapel Street - Prologue - My Mother
Chapel Street - Chapter 1 - RestingPlace.com
Chapel Street - Chapter 2 - Elisabetta
Chapel Street - Chapter 3 - The Upload
Chapel Street - Chapter 4 - The Kobayashi Maru
Other Writing Tips:
Chapel Street - Prologue - My Mother
Chapel Street - Chapter 1 - RestingPlace.com
Chapel Street - Chapter 2 - Elisabetta
Chapel Street - Chapter 3 - The Upload
Chapel Street - Chapter 4 - The Kobayashi Maru
Other Writing Tips:
Let's stay in touch:
Great blog entry Sean. I had no understanding of how challenging this kind of thing could be and how you must protect yourself. This was a real eye opener. The idea that these people want to make money off of you without working for it is absurd. You made the right choice. Thank you for sharing your experience with this, Sean! I learned a lot! Best to you and yours! ~ MJ
ReplyDeleteThanks, Michael. Did you check out my blog about Little Red. I gave you a mention.
DeleteI really enjoyed learning from your experience, Sean. As an aspiring writer, I don't want to make any mistakes, but I want to do business with people/companies that will do what's best for both of us. When I write my first story, you would be the first person in mind I'd like my book to be read by, and will hopefully be a positive influence for Christ Jesus that someone would want to make a movie out of it. Keep sharing your experiences! I think you made the right decision.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you are finding my blogs useful! Good luck with your book and I hope it is a success for you and the Lord!
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