questions to ask an agent on The Call
Note: This post was most recently updated on February 27, 2024. (Whenever new things come up in the publishing world, I try to add them to this list.)
Note 2: This list is tailored towards fiction authors of marginalized backgrounds who have not previously published any books / been represented by an agent before. It is not meant to be an exhaustive list, and if you’re an illustrator, a self-pub author, have been previously represented, or write nonfiction, there’ll be some questions here not relevant to you and some questions you should ask besides the ones presented here.
I was afraid of being that author who writes a singular blog post about getting an agent and then never posts on their blog again, but I finally got an idea for a post that I hope will be helpful! When I was in my two-week frenzy of getting agent offers, I found it was helpful to have a list of questions to ask agents so I could better determine if they were the right fit for me, and I thought I’d share my questions now. Will this list make you come off as very type-A? Probably. But is that a bad thing? I don’t know.
This list is adapted from Alexa Donne and Jim McCarthy’s lists. They’re both extremely helpful, but I felt I had to ask more to ensure I was finding the right person to champion me and my work. As a result, I ended up with this massive list of questions tailored to my own needs, and as I’ve been compiling this blog post, I’ve added even more in retrospect. When you’re making your own list, don’t be afraid to add questions of your own if you find any more information to be helpful.
With many of these questions, there’s no right or wrong answer, and they’re just there to gauge expectations for if you sign with this agent. However, if an agent seems to dodge your questions, or if you’re personally not satisfied with an answer, that’s a sign that they may not be the right fit for you.
Without further ado, let’s get into it!
questions about your book
These are helpful to understand your agent’s vision for your book and what it will immediately be like working with them.
What did you enjoy about my book?
Do you have imprints/editors in mind for submission yet?
It may be helpful for you to write these down if they give you any names. If you end up with a different agent, you can still bring up these editors to your agent if you think they’re a good fit.
How close to submission-ready do you feel my book is?
When do you hope to go on submission with this? Is there a specific amount of time you have in mind that we wait?
For me, I wanted an agent who would understand my need for a loose schedule because of school. Other people may want a strict deadline to keep them accountable!
What edits do you want me to make to my book to get it submission ready?
How many revision rounds do you envision us doing before submission?
How do you feel about this book as a series vs a standalone?
This question is only important to ask if you actually want to write a series!
questions about the agent’s editorial process
This section is very important. If an agent’s editorial process doesn’t mesh up with how you work, or if their vision for your book isn’t how you imagined it, that could mean they’re not the right agent for you. A lot of these questions are to help set your expectations for what it’ll be like working with this agent.
Are you editorial?
Some agents aren’t editorial at all, and that’s okay! Ask this question so you know what to expect with both this book and books going forward.
In what ways are you editorial? What are your editorial strengths?
How long is your average turnaround for reading/notes?
This is for your own reference so you know what to expect.
How do you deliver notes? (Word doc comments? Edit letter?)
Do you do line edits? Copy edits?
Will there ever be a case where you will request that I pay someone to edit my manuscript?
If they say yes, run away. This question is here to weed out schmagents. There may be rare cases where an agency hires a freelance editor for your manuscript, but the agency should always be the one paying for it, never you.
What happens if we disagree editorially?
Who decides when the manuscript is ready to go on sub—you or me?
questions about sub
One of the things I wish I’d asked more about was definitely submission because, frankly, I didn’t really understand how it works. If you have any other questions about how sub works beyond what I’ve put here, now is the time to ask them.
What is your usual timeline for submission rounds? How long do you wait before going on a second round of submissions?
Will you share editor info with me when we go on submission? (imprints & editor names) Do I get any input on who we submit to? If I make a list of editors or imprints I like, would you consider them?
You may not care about having input, and that’s fine! But for me, I have a few imprints I absolutely love and really wanted to see on my list. I made a list of editors I like by looking in the acknowledgments of books in my genre and category that I’ve enjoyed, and my agent took this list into consideration!
What do you typically put in a sub package? Will you share my sub package with me before we go on sub if I ask for it? If not, why not?
You should expect that an agent will submit a pitch (similar to your query letter) and the manuscript (though sometimes they may only share the manuscript after an editor requests it). Other than that, agents sometimes like to submit other supplemental materials! Just ask so you know what to expect. Personally, I liked seeing my pitch before my agent went on sub for me, but not everyone does.
Will I get a complete list before submission of imprints and/or editors you’ll submit to?
If they say no, ask why not. If you want to know who you’re submitting to, you should be able to get that information.
How do you approach submission rounds? Do you have informal chats with editors before submitting to them, or do you just cold submit?
Every agent’s approach is different, and there’s probably no right or wrong answer here, but it’s nice to know beforehand how it will go.
Do you prefer submitting to editors you have a relationship with, or will you submit to editors you’ve never talked to before?
This goes hand-in-hand with the question about having input on who you submit to.
How many editors do you usually submit to per round?
This should be specific to other clients who write in your age category and genre. Again, no right or wrong answers here—anything from going out on an exclusive to submitting widely is a valid choice, and this is so you know what to expect.
How often will you communicate during submission?
How will I receive responses? Does this change depending on good news versus bad news?
How involved will I be in the initial offer?
How many editors do you go to before giving up? What happens if I don’t sell this book? (Revisions? New project?)
What percent of projects that you’ve put on submission have you sold?
This can depend on genre and category, as well as how new the agent is to the industry! Assuming your goal is traditionally publishing with a large or mid-size publisher, you want to make sure you’re not signing with someone who’s sold, like, two things to small presses after five years. If they give you a number that seems small, ask about the agency’s sale rate as a whole. All of the agents I talked to had sold more than half of the projects they put on sub.
It can also be helpful to get a one-day Publisher’s Marketplace account so you can look up the agent’s announced deals yourself and get a sense of what and where they’ve sold before.
How do you negotiate contracts? Does your agency have a contracts person, and if not, who handles them? What are things you look for in a contract that you would negotiate?
Hopefully, they want to make your option clause as friendly to you as possible, retain as many rights as possible (why would your publisher want theme park rights?), and ensure your contract can be terminated under fair circumstances.
This question was brought to you by a thread from Hannah Fergesen.
questions about communication
Most of these questions are here so you know what to expect, and if things end up differing from your expectation, you’ll want to have a talk with the agent about it. You want an agent who can communicate well—or who will let you know if their communication will be less frequent/consistent at certain points in time.
Do you prefer to communicate via email, phone, text, video call, or some combination of these?
If YOU have any preferences or need any accommodations regarding communication, now is a good time to bring that up.
What are your typical client response times for general questions, urgent requests, and reading manuscripts? What should I do if I haven’t heard back within this time?
What is the longest I would go without hearing from you?
If I wish to, would I be able to text message you? DM? Zoom?
Email and phone are standard, but I actually text my agent a lot! It differs for everyone!
Are there ever periods of time where your communication might be less frequent? When can I expect this?
questions about what happens after a book deal
Again, most of these are just so you know what to expect.
How do you manage the client/editor relationship?
Do you have to be copied on all communication to my editor? Do you need to be on our phone calls?
What would happen if my editor and I don’t see eye-to-eye? How do you mediate that?
How involved are you/the agency in marketing/publicity?
The answer is probably “not much,” but it’s good to know if they have social media channels!
What happens if I have a subpar experience working with a publisher? How would you manage that?
This could be a lot of things. Maybe people in your publishing team have lackluster work ethics; maybe they are discriminatory towards you; maybe they refuse to put any money towards marketing. It’s important to know how your agent can support you during these kinds of situations, because it happens to a lot of people.
Are there any circumstances where you would choose to sever a publishing contract, and how would you go about doing that? If I feel strongly that I cannot fulfill my contract for any reason, what would we do?
Maybe there are personal things going on in your life that prevent you from doing writing work for the long term; maybe you absolutely cannot continue working with your publisher because of the way they treat you; either way, or if it’s something else, it’s helpful to know what would happen if it gets to that point.
questions about subsequent projects
This is really important to ask about! If you want this agent to rep you for your career as opposed to one book, you should talk to them a lot about what you have in mind for the future.
If I get a book deal that contracts me for multiple books, how involved would you be with the following book(s)? Is it something I’d only be working with my editor on, or also you?
At what point do you want to see new projects? (Pitch? Synopsis? Partial? Full?) What happens if I pitch a project and you don’t like it?
What are your thoughts on submitting new projects as a proposal versus a full manuscript?
Do you ever veto projects or refuse to submit a project?
It is okay if they say yes to this question as long as there’s a good reason. There are times when it’s valid for an agent to refuse to submit a project, like if that genre is just completely dead at the moment. There was a time when vampire books didn’t sell at all (but now they’re back); there was a time when YA dystopia didn’t sell at all (but, again, now they’re back).
What happens if I hand you a manuscript and you don’t like it? What if we have different editorial visions for the manuscript? Will you still sub it to publishers?
This is good to know early on. Of course you want your agent to love everything you write, but you should know what happens if they don’t.
If I wrote something in another genre/category, would you represent that as well? If not, how would we handle that?
This is a very important question to ask if you plan on writing in other genres or categories. If your agent doesn’t rep everything you want to write, there are many things that might happen. Some people have a second agent from the same agency; some people have a second agent at another agency that they query separately; some people end up leaving their agent and finding someone else.
If you are working on anything else or already have WIPs in mind, talk about it and ask what they think.
If they don’t seem to like many of the ideas that you’re passionate about, this could be a sign that they may not be the right fit for you in the future.
If you’re interested in IP, ask if they’ve done any work with it and what it entails.
IP is when you are contracted to write a book that was conceptualized by someone else. It’s a bit different from ghostwriting because you’re usually the only person who gets credited for it on the front cover. Popular examples include books adapted from TV shows and movies, like all the Star Wars books. However, other books can also be IP; look up Alloy Entertainment, Cake Creative, and Assemble Media to see some you might recognize.
What if I want to self publish some of my projects? Would you be okay with this?
Another question you only need to ask if you’re interested in doing this.
questions about subrights
This is to know what to expect.
Are subrights (foreign, film, audio, etc.) managed in house? Outsourced?
If subrights are managed by another agent, how involved are you in the process?
How involved will I be with subrights deals if we retain rights (e.g. the publisher didn’t acquire the rights)? Will I get the opportunity to speak with interested foreign editors, for example?
Will I be able to turn down specific subrights offers if I take issue with them?
Beyond if the deal you’re getting is extremely terrible, I know of some authors who have turned down offers from publishers in specific countries due to various ongoing world events, especially if they can’t be sure whether the publisher supports the governments that are responsible.
What are the commission percentages for subrights?
I want to say 20-25% is standard? Don’t quote me on this.
questions about being a marginalized writer
Okay, here are the really big ones that I feel are especially important for marginalized authors. You should tailor these questions to your own needs, as most of these are questions I personally needed to ask. Don’t be afraid to ask hard questions.
I see myself writing about my identity for the long term—is this something you’re willing to represent throughout my career?
If they want you to write books that aren’t about your identity, but you don’t see yourself doing that, that’s a sign they’re not right for you.
What if I decide to write a book that isn’t about my own identity—specifically, if the main character is actually more privileged than me? Will this be something you’re okay with?
By this, I mean things like if you’re a queer person who writes a straight romance, or a person of color who writes a white main character.
Authors should be allowed to *not* have to write about their trauma all the time. If your agent seems like they’re not okay with that, then they also may not be the right fit. Of course, if you don’t want to ever write outside your identity, that’s perfectly reasonable, but in the event that you do, make sure you ask this.
The publishing industry, just like pretty much all kinds of entertainment, historically has not treated marginalized authors with the same care that they do for more privileged authors. How will you champion me, as a marginalized person, and ensure I’m treated fairly?
If the agent who speaks to you says it’s not that bad, or it’s not so bad anymore, they may not be the best fit for you. Yes, #PublishingPaidMe requires more nuance, and yes, many diversity surveys are quite flawed, but the fact remains that the vast majority of works getting published are still by cishet, white, abled people.
Will you ever provide editorial feedback on the representation of my own identity/identities?
The answer should be a pretty firm no unless they share your identity/identities. You might want to ask current clients about their experience with this too, since an agent’s answer isn’t always going to tell you everything.
What happens if my editor tries to provide feedback about my marginalizations that they do not share?
Your agent should want to take your side.
What percent of your clients would you estimate are diverse in some way, including but not limited to race, religion, gender, sexuality, and disability status?
This is a good question to gauge if you’re going to be the token [insert identity here] for your agent. I did not want to be the token Asian or the token queer person.
You can also ask if they have any clients with your specific identities.
Can you provide these accommodations for me? [List accommodations needed.]
This is an important question to ask if you need any accommodations regarding communication with your agent, and you should not be afraid to ask for everything you need now.
other random questions
idk these just don’t fit in another category
AI-generated art and scripts are a growing threat to writers’ and artists’ livelihood. What is the agency’s policy on AI-generated works?
They’d better say they don’t support it.
If I decide to stop writing for a while—let’s say several years—would you still represent me when I start writing again?
If I want to apply to be a mentor for an organized mentorship program, do I need your approval beforehand? What if I want to mentor someone informally without the support of an official program?
RIP to Pitch Wars, Author Mentor Match, and DVmentor, all of which I previously listed as examples here.
How do you handle social media crises? Have you ever asked a client to delete something from social media?
What social media platforms do you have a public account on?
Under what circumstances would you part ways with a client? What is the process for terminating that relationship?
Different agency contracts are different. Some of them won’t let you query for a few months after you leave; this is normal, but not every agency will have this restriction, and if they have a wait time longer than 2 or 3 months, you may want to ask why.
How long have you been agenting?
Is agenting your full-time job? If not, what else do you do, and how do you balance that with agenting?
In this industry, it can be very hard to earn a living, so having multiple jobs isn’t necessarily a red flag (many agents are also authors, for example!), but this is something to be aware of.
What is your background with agenting? Were you mentored, and if so, for how long, and by whom?
This is a great question to ask newer agents. It’s a good sign if your agent has had some mentorship before they started taking on clients. Maybe they’ve been an intern or an assistant; maybe they started out co-agenting with a more experienced agent.
Is there a possibility you could leave agenting in the next several years for any reason?
What is your publishing background? Have you worked in any other publishing jobs?
How many clients do you have?
How long is your typical client relationship? If you’re allowed to say, have you ever parted ways with a client, and why?
Ask to speak to a client who has sold + a client who hasn’t sold.
If you’re a marginalized author, I highly suggest you ask if you can specifically speak to diverse clients.
In any case, ask to talk to clients who write in your age category and genre.
For questions to ask a client of an agent, I suggest this list.
What happens next if I sign with you?
Is the agency contract on a book-by-book basis, or an overall agency/career basis?
No wrong answers here, but consider what fits your needs.
May I have a blank copy of the agency agreement to look over?
Will I ever work with an assistant or interns, and if so, under what circumstances?
This is, again, just to know what to expect.
What happens to me if you go on leave for an extended period of time, like for medical or personal reasons? Who can I be in contact with during that time?
Hopefully, there would be someone else at the agency you can work with until this agent is back to work. I would suggest you do a little poking around to make sure you’d be comfortable working with anyone you could possibly get reassigned to.
What happens to me if you move agencies or leave agenting?
Again, different responses from different people. You might stay with the same agency but switch agents, you might have to leave and re-query, or, if they’re just moving agencies, you might get to go with the agent to their new agency. Personally, I really like it when agents leaving the industry refer their authors to new agents, but this doesn’t always happen.
If I have any more questions, would you be willing to have a second call?
Obviously, if your deadline is coming close, you can’t do that, but if this is your first offer, definitely ask this question.
What questions do you have for me?
Always good to ask this if they haven’t gotten around to asking you anything yet.
May I have two weeks [or however much time you personally need] to alert other agents I’ve queried that I have an offer?
This is the question to ask the first agent who offers to you; if you get more offers, the deadline should remain what it was. 10-14 days is the industry standard. You can ask for more if the deadline would fall on a weekend or holiday, or if you think you’ll need more time to choose, but generally, 3 weeks is the maximum—unless it’s the winter holiday season (in which case, like, a full month is acceptable since so many people take time off), or if you have something specific going on in your life that will make a quick deadline particularly hard to follow.
If they pressure you to sign right away, this might not be great!
I gave the agents I notified a deadline that was a day before my actual deadline. That gave me time to do some considering and talk to other authors before making my choice.
