Ten Commandments for Working with Your Agent – A Guest Blog by Steve Laube

One year I taught a writer’s workshop where, in addition to sharing about the writing life, I was asked to talk about what it was like working with an agent. My agent Steve Laube posted this blog on his website. Steve generously gave permission to repost that blog. If you’re interested in writing, his blog gives some humorous, yet great advice on working with an agent:

By request, here are my Ten Commandments for working with your agent. Break them at your own peril.

1. Thou shalt vent only to thine agent and never directly to thy publisher or editor.

2. Thou shalt not get whipped into a frenzy by the rumor mill fomented by internet loops, groups, Facebook, or blogs.

3. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s success. Be content with thine own contract.

4. If thou hast a dispute with thine agent thou shalt talk to thy agent and seekest resolution. Jumping ship for no good reason is unprofessional…and agents talketh to each other.

5. Thou shalt consider thy deadlines as sacrosanct. Thy hand signeth the contract, therefore thou art obligated. Thou shalt not expect thy agent to miraculously create extra time, at the last minute.

6. Respecteth the boundaries of the communication relationship with thy agent. Do not risketh being classified as a spammer or high maintenance by thy agent.

7. Thou shalt be reasonable and balanced with regard to Facebook, Twitter, blogging, or blogs. Thou art a writer….not a teenager. (Thy social networking and Internet writing shouldeth be related to marketing efforts or to increasing thy platform and readership.) Remembereth…every word written on Facebook is a word not written on thy manuscript.
   [This commandment was revised on 9/25/10 in response to visceral reactions both public and private. I previously stated that a writer should spend no more than an hour a week with social networking and blogs. Boy did I touch a nerve!]

8. Keepeth it all in perspective. Selling only eight thousand books still meaneth 8,000 people have “bought a ticket” to read thy work. That crowd would filleth a basketball arena.

9. Remember thy calling to be a writer and keep it holy. You are in the business of changing the world word by word. Everything else is secondary.

10. Thou shall rise and call thy agent blessed. (and send chocolates at Christmas and cash on birthdays…)

If thou dost not have an agent, do not passeth “Go.” Instead grabbeth one and bringeth said agent into thy camp ASAP. This industry is a labyrinth and thou shalt some day discover thou needest one, and then it shall be too late. Real life examples available upon request.

Permission is granted to use Steve’s blog in your own blog or web site, as long as you include the following copyright notice:
© 2010 Steve Laube of The Steve Laube Agency (www.stevelaube.com)

When I wrote a general comment on Steve’s blog, I learned another simple rule (this one about communicating on the web): “Thou shalt make sure you give the right url when commenting on another’s (or your agent’s) blog.” Fortunately, my agent came to the rescue and corrected my inaccurate url.

Check out Steve Laube’s website above for more writer tips and helpful information on the writing industry.  His site is loaded with good advice.

What about you? What do you think about these rules? 

NEXT: AN INTERVIEW WITH AGENT STEVE LAUBE