Finding An Agent

October 16, 2013 | By | 4 Replies More
Mel Sherratt

Mel Sherratt

Finding a good agent is like a marriage, I think. You have to find the right match, someone who ‘gets’ what you want to do, who feels passionate about your writing, who you feel you can work with, liaise with and trust to have your best interests at heart. I should know because handing over a manuscript as it goes out on submission is one of the scariest things I’ve ever done.

I had an agent when I self-published TAUNTING THE DEAD in December 2011 but I decided to go it alone a few months later. I felt passionate about self-publishing my series, THE ESTATE, too. I wanted to see what would happen, what their potential were as these books had been turned down by a few publishers for being cross genre women’s fiction/crime thriller.

If the series sold well, then I was going to look for an agent this year, 2013. But during the latter part of 2012, when my books were topping the charts and getting good sales and reviews, I had five agents contact me. I met with three and chose Madeleine Milburn.

I’m often asked why I would need an agent after self-publishing. Wasn’t I doing all right on my own? Why would I want to give a percentage of what I earn to another, hand over the control to someone else? Well, for me, the reasons were simple. Madeleine deals with the business side of things while I get on with the writing.

Taunting the Dead by Mel Sherratt

Taunting the Dead by Mel Sherratt

My ultimate dream was always to get a book deal and my agent helped me to do that. She can pitch my books into foreign territories, show them to TV and film companies. She has all the connections and the know how to take me to another level.  Perhaps I could have done some of this myself, given time, but I would rather dedicate my working hours to writing. That is what I’m best at.

Madeleine Milburn is my third agent, and it really was third time lucky for me. What I especially liked about her was the fact that she had researched me, read all of my self-published books and looked into what she could do for me long before she contacted me.

She already had a plan when she approached me. For me, after having ultimate control for nearly a year, that was the clincher. I didn’t want to do this alone forever, but I did want someone with the same energy and passion.

When I first met Madeleine, I had only written 15,000 words of WATCHING OVER YOU (out Jan 2014) which then allowed her to be there from the beginning once the first draft was completed. This is where I felt she came into her own. Once I’d completed the draft, she read it within a matter of days, she got someone else to read it too and I had an editorial report to work through.

Once that was done, she line edited it with me before it then went out on submission the week before London Book Fair. We made it the best we could before it flew our nest. I think self-publishing taught me how to edit better, making each draft tighter, but I still need a fresh eye. With each book, I learn something new. But now I have Madeleine to help me too. And it shows – two weeks after it went out on submission, I had a pre-emptive offer of a two book deal.

Fighting for Survival

Fighting for Survival, Mel Sherratt

I love the control element that comes with self-publishing and I shall continue to do it alongside my books that are being published by Thomas and Mercer, but often there were times when I just wanted to write and not worry about cover designs, and getting PR opportunities to market myself and my work etc.

Getting a good book seen is one thing but also maintaining visibility is another part of the job – whether that is through social networking, blogging or writing articles. Luckily, I enjoy this side of things but when I’m drafting or editing a new book, it tends to fall by the wayside, and I get stressed that I’m letting people down. I work long days, often with no breaks for weekends, to fit everything in. The paid work has to come first now.

There’s no doubt that as publishing evolves publishers need to change with the times but so too do agents. I’ve spoken to a lot of them lately, at various conferences and festivals. They are facing the challenges with relish and it’s exciting to see. Last week, I was asked at a talk I did for a local writing group whether the role of the agent will become an unnecessary one and for me that answer is no – for me. I do think it is up to each individual to choose what they see right for them.

But right now, I feel very honoured to have a fantastic agent, editor and publishing team looking after me.

 

Mel Sherratt has been a self-described “meddler of words” ever since she can remember. After winning her first writing competition at the age of 11, she has rarely been without a pen in her hand or her nose in a book. Since successfully self-publishing Taunting the Dead and seeing it soar to the rank of number one best-selling police procedural in the Amazon Kindle store in 2012, Mel has gone on to publish three more books in the critically acclaimed The Estate Series.

Mel has written feature articles for The Guardian, the Writers and Artists website, and Writers Forum Magazine, to name just a few, and regularly speaks at conferences, event and talks. She lives in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, with her husband and her terrier, Dexter (named after the TV serial killer, with some help from her Twitter fans), and makes liberal use of her hometown as a backdrop for her writing.

Her website is www.writerofmurderandmayhem.com and you can find her on Twitter at @writermels

Links to her books on Amazon:

Taunting the Dead 

Somewhere to Hide

Behind a Closed Door

Fighting for Survival

Tags: , ,

Category: Contemporary Women Writers

Comments (4)

Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed

Sites That Link to this Post

  1. Featuring Women Writers on WWWB 2013 - Women Writers, Women Books | December 31, 2013
  1. Dr. Dee Gray says:

    very nicely written blog, thanks for the insight and good luck.

  2. Prabha Salimath says:

    yeah many of writer’s stuff will be interesting to readers not for publisher..

  3. Shemeka Mitchell says:

    I can relate to this post. I’m self-publishing a series that’s doing okay. I’m also in the process of working on a full length novel. I have a publishing company waiting on me to complete it. My problem is that I don’t know if I can trust the company. I don’t have an agent as of yet. The publishing company is sort of new. I want to write and not have to worry about the business aspect of things.

Leave a Reply