Should you ever pay a literary agent to read your material?

Question

Is this a red flag? It seems so many want you to.

Answer 1

no, you shouldn't

Answer 2

You ONLY pay an agent when your work has sold and you are earning money. They make a percentage of what you earn and only what you earn!

Karen Syed

http://www.karensyed.blogspot.com

Answer 3

Never. A literary agent who charges a reading fee is a literary agent who's making money in ways other than selling his/her clients' manuscripts. The AAR code of conduct does not allow reading fees.

Answer 4

If you hire a literary agent, they sometimes ask for a retainer. This is usually spelled out in the contract and states what exactly the retainer is applied to, how much the marketing will cost and if you have to pay that as well. and how much future commission they will take from the sale of your book. Also in the contract should be defined what is your refund protection and what is your recourse if they fail to deliver on their promises.

Before hiring a literary agent on those terms, ask for authors and books they have represented and check out their success.

If you are an unknown, unpublished author, it may be worthwhile to pay for the time of a creditable editor to read your material.

Some editors will charge a small fee to read your material and recommend changes you may need in order to reach the large publishing houses.

If you are going to self publish, you can also find journalism students at local colleges to proof read and suggest edits. There are also writers fairs and college extension courses that have professors who will assist you in your initial editing process, and they can also give recommendations to creditable literary agents in your topic area.