#48 Do Literary Agents Guarantee Published Books?
Literary agents can help you navigate the tricky world of publishing, but what are the odds of your book actually getting published?
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95-98% of manuscripts and pitches sent to publishers get rejected.
Keeping this disheartening statistic in mind, many authors would wonder if having a literary agent would help them beat the odds and give them an edge over other authors, especially if they’re a debut author. This line of thought does stand true to some extent.
Some publishing houses, like Hachette, do not accept unsolicited manuscripts and only accept submissions through agents. Literary agents are also well-versed with the publishing industry, and would know if a manuscript is suited to a particular publishing house's style or niche. Further, they also know the editors working under each publishing house and each imprint, making it easier to pitch a book.
Literary agents also help edit and polish your manuscript. Most literary agents, especially the best ones, do offer critiques that can vastly help improve the marketability of your book; so that you have an increased chance of landing a good publishing deal.
They also help negotiate the best possible deal for your book on your behalf, and help you deal with confusing contractual concepts like foreign rights, translation rights, royalties, print runs, etc.
However, on the other hand, pitching to agents and getting picked up by them is as tough as getting selected by a publishing house. Further, getting literary representation does not always guarantee a published manuscript. While agents do have contacts within the literary sphere, and they do help with editing your book, it all comes down to how good your manuscript is.
We spoke to Rahul Soni, Associate Publisher (Literary) at HarperCollins India, for a session during The Bound Publishing Course, and he told us,
“I'd say about half my list is agented and half of it is not. I know that there is some minimum guarantee of quality when you're looking at agented work. And you know that there will be some editorial input and perhaps some support on the marketing side if you're going with an agented manuscript, but I don't think there's necessarily a preference when it comes to acquiring manuscripts. I think even other publishers split their lists equally. ”
In our experience, we’ve seen authors get successfully published with and without agents. With so many books being written and only a handful of them being published, it all comes down to how you pitch your manuscript. You can read more about literary agents in our previous newsletter here.
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