Michele Wallerstein - 3/13/08
March 13, 2008
How to Be Your Agent's Dream Client
Tips from Michele Wallerstein on Getting and Keeping Agents
by Sylvia Cary
“All writers know that they want an agent, but few writers know what to expect once they get one,” says former
Getting an Agent
“It’s hard to find a good agent because so many things go into what makes an agent. He or she has to be good at so many disparate things, such as creativity, money, negotiating. One thing a writer shouldn’t do once they get an agent is sit back and expect the agent to do all the work. (For a good run-down of the agents three major responsibilities, read Michele Wallerstein’s article, “What an Agent Does for You” on her Web site: www.Novelconsultant.com).
Do:
- Learn about your agent’s three areas of representation: Signing, Servicing and Selling;
- Accept the responsibility for doing your share of the work. You must continue to network;
- Live in
- Keep in touch with your agent even if they’re not good about calling you: Call, email, write – just keep in touch;
- Send an email paragraph about your latest project;
- Be nice to assistants: People move up very fast in this business;
- Remember your agent’s birthday;
- It’s OK to talk to your agent’s assistant;
- It’s OK to tell your agent where to send a script;
- It’s OK to ask where your material is going. You have a right to know where your material has been;
- Keep your agent informed about what you are working on. They want to know that you are working;
- Appreciate your agent and take the agent to lunch, even if you can’t afford an expensive restaurant. Anyplace will do. It’s the thought that counts;
- Bring your agent a little gift now and then to show you care about them as a person;
- “It’s always a tight market, so if you get a small assignment do the best job you can. It’s OK if you do 100 drafts. Go the extra mile. Try a little harder. Build up your reputation;”
- Keep networking;
- Follow through;
- Listen and learn. Pay attention to feedback;
- “Tell people what you want and they’ll give it to you.”
- Don’t call 14 times a day;
- Don’t call only once a month;
- Don’t blow off your agent’s assistant. People move up very quickly in this business;
- Don’t screw up meetings;
- Don’t demand too much: Writers buy in to a lot of stuff they hear that’s baloney, and start feeling testy about being taken advantage of. Don’t be that way. Don’t demand too much from producers; don’t demand too much money; and don’t be late with drafts.
- It’s a job! Take pride in yourself and your appearance;
- Don’t go to a meeting in a T-shirt and jeans;
- Don’t do drugs or alcohol. It will destroy your career;
- Don’t betray your agent. Loyalty means a lot in this business.
Changing Agents
Wallerstein has words of caution here, based on years of experience. One problem is that writers may sell a few scripts with some agent and then leave that agent when they get wooed. Don’t betray your agent. Loyalty means a lot in this business. Before you make the decision to fire your agent and go with somebody else, ask yourself some probing questions and be honest with yourself:
- First, you have to know for sure that you took responsibility for your writing during the time you had this agent;
- Did you give the agent a chance to work with you?
- Did you follow through with the agent’s suggestions?
- Don’t underestimate what agents know and can do for you. For example, writers hear things like, “There’s no such thing as an open assignment list for writers.” This is not true. There is an open assignment list for writers – IF you’re connected. Your agents know things you don’t know
- Don’t shoot yourself in the foot and work on what the agents tells you not to work on.
Wallerstein gives the example of a hot-shot writer she had busted her buns working for (and getting meetings for) by praising his work (“You’re going to want to send a car for this script!”). Then, just when he was about to make it, he fired her for what he thought was going to be a better agent. When that didn’t work out, his career crashed. “Writers get cold, and when they get cold, it’s over,” Wallerstein says. “They may have to be moved to TV movies.” When the writer came crawling back, she took him on again, moved him to TV, and just when he was about to make it again, he left again! And after that his career was dead. His disloyalty was by then common knowledge.
When it comes to getting fired by your agent, most agents don’t like to fire you, so they’ll do it indirectly and passively. They’ll withdraw, not be available, avoid. Eventually, you’ll realize you’ve been fired!
So, have you done everything you can to make your agent happy?
Michele Wallerstein is a novel and screenplay “doctor” who was formerly an agent for writers, producers and directors in
Sylvia Cary, MFT, has been an active member of the Scriptwriters Network for over a decade. Also a licensed psychotherapist, she is a screenwriter and the author of 4 published books. She has a book editing business called Therapists Who Write which focuses on helping psychotherapists and others in the healing professions get published. Her screenplay, The Ladies War, has been optioned by a