My big bittersweet news

And what happens to clients when an agent leaves?

Hi everyone,

In the vein of ‘everything that happens in my publishing life will become a learning opportunity for my Substack’, I have some news and reflections. Here’s the news:

As for the reflections? As a starting point, aside from ‘Are you moving back to the UK?’ (yes), here are the two questions I’ve been asked most often since the news dropped yesterday.

Will you continue agenting?
What will happen to your clients?

Well, let’s crack these questions open a little bit.

It can be such a long, tough journey for writers to gain agent representation - the ‘querying trenches’ are called that for a reason! How horrifying that, after all that effort, you could lose representation. I think a lot of authors worry about that. One of the most frequent questions I was asked on offer calls was ‘what happens to me if you leave?’

I had hoped to stick with my authors for a long time but circumstances worked against me. I was let go from my first agenting job and spent roughly 8 weeks wondering whether to continue with agenting at all, while exploring my options. Ultimately, I landed at DMLA and re-signed all but 2 of my authors (one stayed with the previous agency, one had been snapped up by another agent). I so badly wanted to finish what I had started and give these writers the deals they deserved.

But like most agents, I now operated on commission only and I felt frustrated that, working 3 other jobs to pay the bills, I had little time for the job I actually wanted to do, only signing 2 clients in 8 months and sending a handful of projects on sub - most of which I’d worked on in my previous role. Ultimately this frustration was one reason for me deciding to explore editorial again.

That being said, I still care about every writer I took on, and a big part of the past few weeks has been to try to figure out how to handle this transition in the best possible way for them - and this touches on the more general question of how agents weigh up the process of leaving. Here are a few different author situations both agent and agency will likely consider.

1. If clients have offers, are mid-negotiations, or have ongoing contracts, they are in a particularly vulnerable position if their agent leaves. This is normally when the agency steps in - a more senior agent is likely to take over. It makes business sense for the agency too, since any contracts signed with that agency will generate commission during the life of the book.

2. If clients are on submission without offers, it’s a bit trickier. For me, withdrawing anyone from submission is never the optimal decision, unless they have been on sub for quite some time. Editors who have already seen the submission may not agree to read it again. But who can take on the submission and can it be handed over seamlessly? And who earns the commission? Hmm. Having said this, I do think it’s quite common for authors to be pulled from submission when their agent leaves, if no-one else at the agency wants to or has the capacity to take over.

3. If clients are between projects or didn’t yet go out on sub, it genuinely makes sense for the client to shift to new representation immediately - but how much support should the current agent or agency offer? I think most agents do help their clients find new rep when they leave, by offering to be a reference (I’ve definitely come across this in queries) or by suggesting other agents. But the level of this support varies.

The responses to each of these scenarios is going to vary from agent to agent, agency to agency. What I settled on (with agency and new employer approval) was a transitional phase where I keep negotiating the offers and contracts currently on my desk and even keep a few things out on submission (though of course withdrawing from Macmillan due to conflict of interest rules). However, the idea is that once present work is completed, clients transition over to new agents either at the agency or elsewhere. I’m helping every one of my clients take that next step. Is it time-consuming? Yes. Will it be worth it? Absolutely.

So the short answer to whether I’ll continue agenting is yes, for a while, but it’s going to phase out in a few months. And as for what will happen to clients, that depends - but I’ll be there to help.

Being an agent has been a huge privilege. I built the bulk of my list with the financial support of my first agency, who paid me a salary - for that I’ll always be grateful. And to DMLA for giving me my second chance. I made 7 deals over the 1-year-and-10-month period I was agenting, with 4 of the big 5 (funnily enough, Macmillan was the one I didn’t get) and 3 large independents, across YA, adult fiction and even adult non-fiction. I handled a 48-hour six-figure pre-empt, an auction in the US, and a competitive TV/film agent situation. Agenting and specifically conferences have enabled me to travel around the US and meet hundreds of wonderful writers. I’ve given speeches and taught university-level classes on the publishing industry. I’ve held two published books that I agented in my hands - The Marriage Vendetta (also a US edition here) and The Last Wish List. (They are both fantastic, please buy them.) Two more are coming later this year - Firstborn of the Sun and The Omen Girl - and I can’t wait! So, agenting, it’s been a blast. But here’s to the next chapter.

(Also: don’t worry, I’ll still be wittering on about publishing in my new job. Stay tuned!)

Kesia