Monday, August 01, 2011

Hopping On A Growing Bandwagon

Us too, says Deidre Knight of her Knight Agency.

First the Brits, then Dystel & Goderich dipped a toe into the e-book water, and before long, the ladies of BookEnds LLC were taking the plunge.

The e-book bandwagon has been driving through the halls of the literary agencies in the States and it's a serious business decision as to whether the agent should jump on or walk away.

Literary agents adhere to a code of ethics that was formulated by the Association of Authors' Representatives. Even agents who choose not to join the organization tout their adherence to the group's ethical requirements, which include avoidance of any conflict of interest that would harm the author.

In the past, there have been lapses. You can read all about them at Writers Beware.

With literary agents now looking at acting as publishers for their clients' electronic editions, the line between literary representation and publisher is becoming blurred. The e-book industry is new and not yet settled into defined boundaries.

In England, a few literary agents are acting as publishers of existing clients' backlists. There's been hints that they might also publish manuscripts that were rejected by the blockbuster-only major publishing houses, rather than allow an author's perfectly good but smaller market novel to gather dust under the bed.

So here comes Ms. Knight, who's looked out over the landscape and seen a possible business opportunity that would benefit her clients, and herself (to the tune of the standard 15%). Like Dystel & Goderich, her people will aid the author in formatting, cover art, etc., etc., and most likely do some promoting to get the book into the public's eye.

The Knight Agency does not see itself as a publisher, in spite of the e-book publishing service. They'll help an author re-print a backlist title in which rights have reverted, which isn't much of a publishing venture.

But isn't it publishing when they take a fresh manuscript and turn it into digital images?

For readers who are tired of the same old, same old from the major publishing houses, it sounds like the literary agents are still acting as gatekeepers at the slush-pile door. The difference comes in when the gatekeeper culls the leavings pile so that a book they consider publish-worthy doesn't have to die.

The question that AAR-adherents ask? Will the agent work so hard to get a manuscript into a major house if they have an easy option available? After all, with the choice of e-publishing in the background, the agent has a little cushion when it's time to push something on an aquisitions editor.

Like any changing business model, the agent as e-publisher may or may not prove to be the wave of the future. Some agents, like Deidre Knight, are gambling that it will. Others will wait it out and see how things develop.

Someone will win and make some money. Someone will pick wrong and lose. That's the nature of free enterprise. And as always, it's caveat author.

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