The quickest way to identify a shark is to follow the money. Good agents make their money two ways: successfully negotiating specified contractual rights to an author's manuscript with publishers and from reading and critique fees. Sharks do the same but over charge and invent new ways to induce the money flow, generally, in return for little or no services.
There is no license to get or training required for one to claim the title of Literary Agent. It is enough to put a smile on Mack the Knife.
First, then, specifically, how do reputable agents make their money and what is fair compensation?
GOOD AGENTS
The basic service an agent provides is to contact likely publishers, offer the Author's manuscript and negotiate a good contract.
What is the expertise an agent offers?
First, the agent should not only know what publishers would be interested in the Author's manuscript but what editors in that publishing house to contact. The latter point is key. If an editor has to walk across the hallway to get a manuscript into the hands of the proper editor, it probably will not happen.
Often even an experienced agent has to call a publisher to find the proper editor, because editors often change. Also, publishing houses change their interests due to mergers and the market. A publishing house that did westerns yesterday may not do them today.
So agents may not always have specific editors and publishing houses for every possible kind of manuscript written on the tip of their tongues but they should know how to find out.
Second, agents should know what constitutes a good contract: royalty rates, splits on subsidiary rights (like book club rights, performance rights, first serial rights), which rights to give the publisher and which to reserve for the Author.
Third, agents should know how to present the Author's works in a professional manner, from query letter and synopsis to the format of the manuscript itself.
Fourth, an agent should be aware of his or her limits. Things like Performance (read movie) Rights and Foreign (read British and Translation) Rights are, for various reasons, especially difficult. Many agents use their contacts with other agents who can do lunch and know the language in Los Angeles or London or Tokyo. It is not important how the agent handles such matters only that he or she is very clear about how they are handled.
Fifth, an established agent should have some sales. It is perfectly proper for an Author to ask. Nothing works better than for an agent to call a book editor who already knows them and respects their judgment.
Sixth, there are annual references such as 'Guide to Literary Agents and Art/Photo Reps' published by Writer's Digest Books and found in most libraries. Such annual references screen out some of the sharks, but not all. So throw some salt over your shoulder, just in case.
The above six points should generate some questions in your mind when you talk to an agent. And it would not hurt to read a book like Richard Curtis' How To Be Your Own Literary Agent. The more you know...
NOW, ABOUT THE MONEY?
Good agents work on commission. Usually 10% - 15%. They should not get paid unless they sell your book. Once sold the 10% - 15% is 10% - 15% of everything, you, the Author makes.
Good agents work from a contract. The Author - Agent relationship is, whatever else it might be, a business arrangement. Money is going to change hands, hopefully a lot of money.
For complete manuscript submissions from new writers agents often charge reading fees. The simple truth is that no agent has a truck big enough to haul all those manuscripts from the Post Office if it got out that he or she read everything that was sent in. Reading fees amount to both compensation for the time spent and as a way to discourage writers who are not serious about the business of writing.
On the other hand, an Author should expect more than a simple yes or no if a reading fee is charged. The manuscript should be evaluated with analyses of character development and plot and context. Both the good and the bad. It also proves that the manuscript was read.
So what is fair? For a 300 page manuscript or up to 100,000 words, assuming you get in return the equivalent of a four to seven page, single spaced analyses, $300 - $500. Rarely, if ever, will you get a line by line critique as QCorp does (see our Critique Service section).
Of course, if you send in a proposal consisting of a query letter and a sample chapter or so (10 - 20 pages, proper format) or, say, a ten page children's picture book there should be no charge.
The key is to ask what reading and critique fees are and exactly what you get for your money, what is analyzed and how many pages of analysis should be expected. Don't be shy.
SHARKS
Some sharks are bold enough to charge you real money for simply taking you on as a client. They charge you a one time fee, they say, to compensate them for all the work and effort they will expend preparing your material, writing a query letter, contacting publishers, duplicating and mailing out your manuscript. I have heard of Authors paying thousands of dollars (one paid $6,000). Don't do it. Some sharks are more subtle and charge a monthly fee, say $20 or $100. Don't do that either.
The plain truth is that you should not be charged anything for simply becoming a client.
Others will write you a favorable, often glowing, letter praising your submission. All it needs is a professional going over and its a sure winner -- something they could do for...then comes the money line. Too much money.
There is nothing wrong with an agent offering to critique your work even if it is never going to be published. QCorp gets many submissions that have possibilities which can only be explored and evaluated AFTER a full and thorough critique. But QCorp also specifically warns the Author that a full critique is no guarantee of an Agency contract.
Also, many Authors want a critique simply to evaluate their own talent.
The point is beware of glowing reports and guarantees, explicit or implied, and, as suggested above, be bold and clear in asking what you will get back for any ANY reading or critique fee paid. And never pay too much no matter what is promised.
If you want to check on what is a credible fee for any service an agency might offer check the front of the current edition of Writer's Digest Books' The Writer's Market. You will find scores of fee schedules -- for everything.
The best advise is follow the money. There are agents who do not know their business or are in the process of learning. They are not necessarily sharks. Some agents do not respond in a speedy manner and take a long time to get things done. They are not necessarily sharks.
Sharks, somewhere, somehow will ask for your money.