Last week, I stumbled across an interesting blog post by author Dean Wesley Smith titled “Life After Agents.” It’s one in a series of posts that follows a model set by the History Channel series Life After People which speculates on how the removal of humans would affect the world.

In the “Life After Agents” post, Mr. Smith imagines the publishing industry without agents. He stresses that agents are employees of writers and should be viewed as such. I agree. Agents are hired by authors to perform duties for which they are paid by the author. Yet it’s more complicated than it sounds, because an agent’s job is so much more than a checklist of tasks that any layman–including the author–can do. I’m of the opinion that consulting and strategizing with an agent is where the value of the relationship lies. In order to advise effectively, an agent must possess knowledge that the author does not and they have to know how best to utilize that knowledge to reach the author’s goals.

An agent/author relationship isn’t as cut and dried as going to work and clocking in. Authors will often rely on their agent’s advice in order to make key decisions that will affect their entire career. An agent doesn’t just submit work and forward royalty statements. At least that shouldn’t be all they’re doing.

Good agents understand the author’s goals, strengths, and weaknesses because they listen. They ask key questions to determine what the author wants. They help the author to map out a career plan and consider the best ways to maneuver from Point A to Point B. They will target the author’s work to the house and editor where it will receive the best attention. They know which editors are making good things happen and which editors don’t have the clout to muster support for a book. They know which houses have lists so full it’s highly likely your book will “get lost” in the shuffle. This type of knowledge is vital to the planning necessary to achieve personal happiness, career longevity, and increased income, and most authors need an agent to get it.

As an author who’s had multiple agents and a long stretch of managing my career by myself, I believe a great agent can be priceless. The good ones would certainly be missed if they were gone.

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