DO YOU NEED A LITARARY AGENT TO PUBLISH A BOOK?

Contemporary wisdom among the writing community is that a literary agent is absolutely necessary if your book is to have any chance of being published. Though an agent can certainly help, you don't need an agent to publish a book. For example, John Grisham and Tom Clancy both published their first novels without an agent, and so can you.

It partially depends on where you are submitting your book. If you want to publish your book with a big-name publishing house, you definitely need an agent. The big companies are so overwhelmed with submissions, they need agents to be their partners finding books they want to publish. If you want to publish a book, but would rather not need an agent, look to publish with a smaller company, or a self publishing company like ours, Bookpal.com.au.

A good agent will help make sure your book is as good as it can be, and work to get the best deal they can get once a company decides to publish your book. A bad agent will be so overwhelmed with books and writers that he won't work to make sure you and your book are taken care of. You need an agent who will work for your best interests, if you want to publish your book.

Beware of agents who will accept anyone's manuscript over the Internet, chances are they are trying to sell you a self publishing product, or sometimes they now sugar-coat it and call it "partnership publishing" with a small publisher. In this case I would seriously advise that you'd be better off self publishing, at least then you are in control of your intellectual property and marketing; not to mention you will save yourself a stack of money.

Remember, the average book author who publishes through a traditional publisher only sells 18 books, so depending on your circumstances, you may be better off self publishing than going down the route of "partnership publishing".

New writers may feel rebellious when people say they need an agent. Agents take a percentage of your book's profits as their payment for helping you publish your book. However, if an agent can get you a better deal than you could get alone, even after paying the agent's fee, it would make sense to get an agent if you're going to publish a book.

If you decide you need an agent, take time to find a reliable one. Get references and case studies of what they have done with their clients, so you can get a good assessment of their capabilities. Also find out what contacts they have, and if they have overseas contacts if that market appeals to you.

Finally, the intention is that your relationship is long and profitable, so make sure you get along!

© 2009 Bookpal Australia Pty Ltd - All Rights Reserved Worldwide

http://www.Bookpal.com.au/ is helping self publishers all around the world to successfully self publish and market their books with cost effective solutions to create bestsellers. The website offers a free book for budding self publishers, and many other free resources.

Terence Tam is the founder of Bookpal, he previously spent 6 years as an academic and was a contributing author for several academic books. Frustrated with the level of service he was getting with traditional publishers, he set up his own self publishing company to help other authors publish and market books with cost effective yet efficient solutions