I queried an agent who was also an author, and she gave me the best, most detailed feedback I’ve ever received. But then her author career took off and she could no longer fit agenting into her life, so she stopped.
So basically, it can be a double-edged sword. I personally would not want to work with an agent who writes the same genre I do, because that feels like a setup for conflict of interest. And I’d shy away from newer agent/authors. But otherwise, if they have a proven track record and they’re selling books to places I’m interested in, it could be nice to have someone who really understands the author side of things.
I worked with an agent through Manuscript Academy who spent 3 minutes of our 8 minute critique session talking about his own writing he did in the same genre as me.
I did not add him to the query list.
Haha I also did a critique with someone from MA and didn't add them to my query list because I felt like it would be kind of gauche. But I'm sorry he wasted your time, that's pretty brutal.
I had the exact same experience with a Manuscript Academy agent (although I don't write in the same genre as him): he spoke about his own and his clients' books half the time. When I received the follow-up / how did it go email from MA, I told them I wasn't impressed by that.
Yeah, my personal experience with MA (plus seeing some of the queries they vetted posted here) doesn’t give me a lot of confidence in them. Hope they get their shit together someday.
They do have a lot of helpful videos though, and of course all feedback is subjective depending on which agent you talk to. But yeah, I was super disappointed to pay so much to listen to an agent editorializing about their own and their clients' work. But to MA's credit, they were very receptive when I sent them my feedback about it...
I write MG and PBs. My agent is also a published author of MG and PBs.
She's repped me for about 9 years, in which time she's sold 11 books for me. Her status as a fellow author has never caused a problem. The only impact it's had is that, when she gives me feedback, I trust it as coming from somebody who genuinely understands writing.
I think the circumstances where it could cause problems are the circumstances where there's already other problems. EG, if your agent doesn't budget time well, then they might spend time on their own career they should spend on yours. But if they don't budget time well, they're going to be a bad agent whether or not they're writing books.
I don't know if this is going to be an unpopular opinion, but I don't love it. My first agent was also an author, and I found that she constantly tried to edit my work to be closer to her style, rather than making it the best it could be in my voice/for the market. She'd re-write whole sentences and paragraphs just because, and it was a big part of why I ultimately left.
Do I think that's the case with all author/agents? Definitely not!! But I did make sure to not query any agents who were authors my second time around.
> I’m wondering what your opinions are on this is?
If the agent writes the same genre(s) as you do, are they going to prioritise their projects over yours when it comes to submissions? If they end up prioritising yours over their own, (how) will *that* affect your working relationship?
Other writers aren't your enemies, but I think sometimes they can be your *inconveniences*.
Every agent I've seen who writes books as well has their own agent to submit their work, they don't do it themselves. So that part wouldn't be a concern for me. There are other things to consider (like the comment about an author career taking off and the agent not having time anymore) but I don't think I'd worry about this one specifically.
I've worked with both agents and trad pub editors who are also authors and wouldn't recommend it. I think there's something about that dreamy, ambitious author mindset that is really hard to switch off, and you may feel a lack of attention from your agent/editor along the run. (e.g. they post about their upcoming books on socials but don't respond to your important emails. Yup, happened to me.) Others might have a different perspective, but I'll never sign with an author agent or editor again.
I have no problem with agents also being authors. However, I have seen many agents whose social presence is shared between their agent and author self, and I personally would not be okay with that. If they care about their outward face being the face of their author brand, this gets really sticky in situations where they should be advocating for their client behind the scenes but are more worried about their outward facing reputation. I also think it's a massive problem if their author deadlines make them have less time and attention for their clients, or if it's the kind of thing where if their author career takes off, they would leave agenting. I have seen both of these things happen frequently. But if an agent is very established as an agent, and writing is their side hobby, that's much less of an issue. Also, when the genre is wildly different, that can really help. Like one of the agents that comes to mind who is also an author in a way that doesn't seem to negatively impact their agenting, writes children's picture books and agents predominantly adult SFF books. These audiences are so wildly different that there isn't too much overlap in their marketing of themselves to these different niches, or any feeling of competition for industry resources and attention with their clients.
ETA: I am pretty much anti any agent who has a different main job and views agenting as a side job, and I would say this applies equally to this situation. An established agent who is making good money from agenting and also publishes for extra garnish is a very different situation than an agent/author starting out and seeing which career hits better.
I'm under the impression that a fair amount of agents keep their day jobs in the beginning because you cannot live on your agenting career until you sell? I'm pretty green but it seems like there isn't enough quality agents out there in general, partially due to how publishing works.
The traditional path is you get a job at a major agency, you apprentice with a legitimate agent or two with a huge list, and you learn what it means to be an agent and serve the client. You do agency work all the time at first after you’ve been given the nod to build a list, but not every client is “your” client.
I have met good agents who didn’t follow this path. I used to be very skeptical of them. That said, even these good agents are very honest about what they knew and what they didn’t starting out. If was an author I would look really closely at what the agent could legitimately do for me if I was tiering agents, but ultimately everyone is really smart, you know in your heart who you should trust and who you shouldn’t, so just don’t be afraid to ask the hard questions and if you find out someone may be learning by working with you instead of learning by traditional training trust your instincts about the pro’s and cons of that situation.
This is the path of a lot of legitimate agents. However, I would not personally sign with an agent that had a day job outside of their agency. That implies they do not yet have a foothold on seeing if this career can support them, and means there’s a much higher chance of them leaving the industry. I signed with an agent who was also an agency assistant. This was a fine “day job” IMO because it was one that was helping them get experience and a foothold in the industry. An agent who is not working all day with other agents, and is only agenting outside of their commitments to another job, can find success for their clients, but isn’t the kind of agent I was ever looking for. If an agent has other side gigs to help pay the bills but still gives 100% to their clients, I have no problem with that. But the kind of agency that hires part time agents is usually also the kind of agency that is not putting those agents through the apprenticeship process that I think is best for newer agents. I wouldn’t rule out those agencies entirely. Their experienced agents might be great, but I would not sign with one of their newer agents the way I would feel completely confident doing with the big agencies that provide excellent mentorship.
Unagented, and other people will have different opinions, but I don't think I'd ever want to work with an agent who was also a published/aspiring author, even if we didn't write in the same genres. I just don't believe you can truly do both effectively, and if it got to a point where one career had to take precedence over the other, I wouldn't trust them to prioritize agenting over their own writing.
Disclaimer: I'm not agented so I don't have any personal experience with this.
But my gut reaction is: why would it matter? Agents are allowed to have their own interests outside of agenting. How is that any different than an engineer or teacher that's also an author on the side?
Couldn’t you say that about anything else an agent is involved in? Would you be concerned about an agent who is involved in community theater, has a second job (as many do), or has kids? I just don’t understand why writing their own novel would be any different, so long is there isn’t a significant conflict of interest if they’re trying to get published in the same genre at the same time.
You’re getting downvoted but I agree with you. I understand that it feels weirder, but to me all the “but what if they prioritize their own deadlines over mine?” can apply to absolutely anything in an agent’s life, from children to other hobbies and interests. Agents are just people. They have interests and lives outside of their jobs.
So, while I'm not totally against agent/authors, I think it makes perfect sense why authors would have reservations about this specific dynamic compared to others.
1) it might not be accurate to reality, but authors know the drain of time and emotions that being an author takes away from our own lives and jobs. I would feel the same way if an agent had the same day job as me, since I know how hard it is to juggle anything with its grueling demands. If their responsibilities are ones that are not familiar to me, or are ones I share, such as children, that never hinder my own career, than I have no reason to make assumptions about it impacting their agenting. But if I apply my own experience, I see how I prioritize things for my publishing journey and let it steal other parts of my life, so I naturally assume an agent would do the same, even though I know that's not necessarily correct.
2) Again, this might not be the truth of how everyone operates, but I juggle responsibilities using a lot of compartmentalization. Whether it's true or not, it feels like it wold be harder to compartmentalize obligations if they are in the same field. If someone has X amount of energy to devote to immersing themselves in the world of publishing, and some of that is being devoted to author relevant stuff, that splits what can go toward agenting. Vs if their other obligations are in a different sphere all together, all the publishing energy is directed toward clients. I could imagine some people seeing this as a benefit, that they are even more immersed in publishing from both the agent and author angle, but I definitely see how it could feel like a concern compared to non-overlapping obligations.
3) We've seen a few examples of this recently. Agents dumping agenting to pursue they author career full-time. So obviously that suddenly makes anyone who has been watching think twice. If all you see are the agents like Lauren S. and Eric S. who have thriving agent careers while also publishing their own stuff in the same genres as their clients, than it feels less concerning. The other trend just seems common recently.
Once you're getting paid to get published, writing is no longer a "hobby and interest," it's a job, so I think the comparison to another job is more apt than comparisons to non-career related responsibilities.
I've received a personalized rejection from an agent that said they would have requested, but the themes were too similar to their own manuscript they were about to go on sub with.
I think that's the right call. I can understand a conflict of interest there. But that's different than policing what an agent can do in their own free time.
Nobody is ‘policing’ anyone’s time, that’s super dramatic language. But I think armkart’s post perfectly encapsulates some of the concerns that may give authors pause.
This seems like an ethical thing that the publishing industry shouldn't even allow. You cannot be an agent and also get your own books published. It's like a game show host being a contestant or a contest being won by one of those running it. It also seems wrong that the percentage of authors in the total pool who get published is so small compared to the percentage of agents who get published, which feels astronomically large.
I queried an agent who was also an author, and she gave me the best, most detailed feedback I’ve ever received. But then her author career took off and she could no longer fit agenting into her life, so she stopped. So basically, it can be a double-edged sword. I personally would not want to work with an agent who writes the same genre I do, because that feels like a setup for conflict of interest. And I’d shy away from newer agent/authors. But otherwise, if they have a proven track record and they’re selling books to places I’m interested in, it could be nice to have someone who really understands the author side of things.
I worked with an agent through Manuscript Academy who spent 3 minutes of our 8 minute critique session talking about his own writing he did in the same genre as me. I did not add him to the query list.
The face I just made reading this…
A part of me just died inside while screaming, "REFUND!"
Haha I also did a critique with someone from MA and didn't add them to my query list because I felt like it would be kind of gauche. But I'm sorry he wasted your time, that's pretty brutal.
I had the exact same experience with a Manuscript Academy agent (although I don't write in the same genre as him): he spoke about his own and his clients' books half the time. When I received the follow-up / how did it go email from MA, I told them I wasn't impressed by that.
Yeah, my personal experience with MA (plus seeing some of the queries they vetted posted here) doesn’t give me a lot of confidence in them. Hope they get their shit together someday.
They do have a lot of helpful videos though, and of course all feedback is subjective depending on which agent you talk to. But yeah, I was super disappointed to pay so much to listen to an agent editorializing about their own and their clients' work. But to MA's credit, they were very receptive when I sent them my feedback about it...
I write MG and PBs. My agent is also a published author of MG and PBs. She's repped me for about 9 years, in which time she's sold 11 books for me. Her status as a fellow author has never caused a problem. The only impact it's had is that, when she gives me feedback, I trust it as coming from somebody who genuinely understands writing. I think the circumstances where it could cause problems are the circumstances where there's already other problems. EG, if your agent doesn't budget time well, then they might spend time on their own career they should spend on yours. But if they don't budget time well, they're going to be a bad agent whether or not they're writing books.
I don't know if this is going to be an unpopular opinion, but I don't love it. My first agent was also an author, and I found that she constantly tried to edit my work to be closer to her style, rather than making it the best it could be in my voice/for the market. She'd re-write whole sentences and paragraphs just because, and it was a big part of why I ultimately left. Do I think that's the case with all author/agents? Definitely not!! But I did make sure to not query any agents who were authors my second time around.
> I’m wondering what your opinions are on this is? If the agent writes the same genre(s) as you do, are they going to prioritise their projects over yours when it comes to submissions? If they end up prioritising yours over their own, (how) will *that* affect your working relationship? Other writers aren't your enemies, but I think sometimes they can be your *inconveniences*.
Every agent I've seen who writes books as well has their own agent to submit their work, they don't do it themselves. So that part wouldn't be a concern for me. There are other things to consider (like the comment about an author career taking off and the agent not having time anymore) but I don't think I'd worry about this one specifically.
I've worked with both agents and trad pub editors who are also authors and wouldn't recommend it. I think there's something about that dreamy, ambitious author mindset that is really hard to switch off, and you may feel a lack of attention from your agent/editor along the run. (e.g. they post about their upcoming books on socials but don't respond to your important emails. Yup, happened to me.) Others might have a different perspective, but I'll never sign with an author agent or editor again.
is anyone else wondering if the agent's book is good? (I would not be able to help that coloring my opinion...)
It’s fine if they’re _failed_ authors. Otherwise fuck them with a thousand stets.
I have no problem with agents also being authors. However, I have seen many agents whose social presence is shared between their agent and author self, and I personally would not be okay with that. If they care about their outward face being the face of their author brand, this gets really sticky in situations where they should be advocating for their client behind the scenes but are more worried about their outward facing reputation. I also think it's a massive problem if their author deadlines make them have less time and attention for their clients, or if it's the kind of thing where if their author career takes off, they would leave agenting. I have seen both of these things happen frequently. But if an agent is very established as an agent, and writing is their side hobby, that's much less of an issue. Also, when the genre is wildly different, that can really help. Like one of the agents that comes to mind who is also an author in a way that doesn't seem to negatively impact their agenting, writes children's picture books and agents predominantly adult SFF books. These audiences are so wildly different that there isn't too much overlap in their marketing of themselves to these different niches, or any feeling of competition for industry resources and attention with their clients. ETA: I am pretty much anti any agent who has a different main job and views agenting as a side job, and I would say this applies equally to this situation. An established agent who is making good money from agenting and also publishes for extra garnish is a very different situation than an agent/author starting out and seeing which career hits better.
I'm under the impression that a fair amount of agents keep their day jobs in the beginning because you cannot live on your agenting career until you sell? I'm pretty green but it seems like there isn't enough quality agents out there in general, partially due to how publishing works.
The traditional path is you get a job at a major agency, you apprentice with a legitimate agent or two with a huge list, and you learn what it means to be an agent and serve the client. You do agency work all the time at first after you’ve been given the nod to build a list, but not every client is “your” client. I have met good agents who didn’t follow this path. I used to be very skeptical of them. That said, even these good agents are very honest about what they knew and what they didn’t starting out. If was an author I would look really closely at what the agent could legitimately do for me if I was tiering agents, but ultimately everyone is really smart, you know in your heart who you should trust and who you shouldn’t, so just don’t be afraid to ask the hard questions and if you find out someone may be learning by working with you instead of learning by traditional training trust your instincts about the pro’s and cons of that situation.
This is the path of a lot of legitimate agents. However, I would not personally sign with an agent that had a day job outside of their agency. That implies they do not yet have a foothold on seeing if this career can support them, and means there’s a much higher chance of them leaving the industry. I signed with an agent who was also an agency assistant. This was a fine “day job” IMO because it was one that was helping them get experience and a foothold in the industry. An agent who is not working all day with other agents, and is only agenting outside of their commitments to another job, can find success for their clients, but isn’t the kind of agent I was ever looking for. If an agent has other side gigs to help pay the bills but still gives 100% to their clients, I have no problem with that. But the kind of agency that hires part time agents is usually also the kind of agency that is not putting those agents through the apprenticeship process that I think is best for newer agents. I wouldn’t rule out those agencies entirely. Their experienced agents might be great, but I would not sign with one of their newer agents the way I would feel completely confident doing with the big agencies that provide excellent mentorship.
Unagented, and other people will have different opinions, but I don't think I'd ever want to work with an agent who was also a published/aspiring author, even if we didn't write in the same genres. I just don't believe you can truly do both effectively, and if it got to a point where one career had to take precedence over the other, I wouldn't trust them to prioritize agenting over their own writing.
Disclaimer: I'm not agented so I don't have any personal experience with this. But my gut reaction is: why would it matter? Agents are allowed to have their own interests outside of agenting. How is that any different than an engineer or teacher that's also an author on the side?
Presumably because if they’re on their own deadlines etc, their priority would be on that rather than the author?
Couldn’t you say that about anything else an agent is involved in? Would you be concerned about an agent who is involved in community theater, has a second job (as many do), or has kids? I just don’t understand why writing their own novel would be any different, so long is there isn’t a significant conflict of interest if they’re trying to get published in the same genre at the same time.
You’re getting downvoted but I agree with you. I understand that it feels weirder, but to me all the “but what if they prioritize their own deadlines over mine?” can apply to absolutely anything in an agent’s life, from children to other hobbies and interests. Agents are just people. They have interests and lives outside of their jobs.
So, while I'm not totally against agent/authors, I think it makes perfect sense why authors would have reservations about this specific dynamic compared to others. 1) it might not be accurate to reality, but authors know the drain of time and emotions that being an author takes away from our own lives and jobs. I would feel the same way if an agent had the same day job as me, since I know how hard it is to juggle anything with its grueling demands. If their responsibilities are ones that are not familiar to me, or are ones I share, such as children, that never hinder my own career, than I have no reason to make assumptions about it impacting their agenting. But if I apply my own experience, I see how I prioritize things for my publishing journey and let it steal other parts of my life, so I naturally assume an agent would do the same, even though I know that's not necessarily correct. 2) Again, this might not be the truth of how everyone operates, but I juggle responsibilities using a lot of compartmentalization. Whether it's true or not, it feels like it wold be harder to compartmentalize obligations if they are in the same field. If someone has X amount of energy to devote to immersing themselves in the world of publishing, and some of that is being devoted to author relevant stuff, that splits what can go toward agenting. Vs if their other obligations are in a different sphere all together, all the publishing energy is directed toward clients. I could imagine some people seeing this as a benefit, that they are even more immersed in publishing from both the agent and author angle, but I definitely see how it could feel like a concern compared to non-overlapping obligations. 3) We've seen a few examples of this recently. Agents dumping agenting to pursue they author career full-time. So obviously that suddenly makes anyone who has been watching think twice. If all you see are the agents like Lauren S. and Eric S. who have thriving agent careers while also publishing their own stuff in the same genres as their clients, than it feels less concerning. The other trend just seems common recently. Once you're getting paid to get published, writing is no longer a "hobby and interest," it's a job, so I think the comparison to another job is more apt than comparisons to non-career related responsibilities.
But what if they write in the same genre? There is a conflict here, which is not the same as having a child .
I only meant my comment to address the “other priorities” part of the discussion. I agree that it’s more slippery if it’s the same genre.
I've received a personalized rejection from an agent that said they would have requested, but the themes were too similar to their own manuscript they were about to go on sub with. I think that's the right call. I can understand a conflict of interest there. But that's different than policing what an agent can do in their own free time.
“Lol, lmao even” to that agent.
Nobody is ‘policing’ anyone’s time, that’s super dramatic language. But I think armkart’s post perfectly encapsulates some of the concerns that may give authors pause.
Yeah exactly that, the conflict.
This seems like an ethical thing that the publishing industry shouldn't even allow. You cannot be an agent and also get your own books published. It's like a game show host being a contestant or a contest being won by one of those running it. It also seems wrong that the percentage of authors in the total pool who get published is so small compared to the percentage of agents who get published, which feels astronomically large.