Angela,

The Pitch is important, but when does an author make it? Is it made to a new agent, and to the publishing house executives?

Thank you,
Nancy

Most of the large traditional publishers require authors contact them through a literary agent. If you do get an offer from a traditional publisher before you land an agent, I strongly recommend you then get an agent to negotiate the deal for you.

One of our BookLocker.com authors recently got a very generous offer from St. Martin’s Press. He didn’t think he needed an agent because he’d already been offered a very nice advance. I told him the agent would very likely be able to get him a much larger advance, and negotiate more favorable terms for him throughout the contract. I explained that signing a traditional publishing contract without a literary agent is like walking into court without an attorney.

He took my advice, and signed a contract with my literary agent (a well-respected one in New York) and she put his book up for auction. The book ended up selling to another publisher for a larger advance and the agent also secured a multi-book deal for the author. Needless to say, he was thrilled!

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