What are literary agents looking for? For many writers, they think the main point of the book is the idea.

The truth is that one of the biggest challenges that my company has as a publisher is helping people understand their audience numbers and the expectations for book sales based on those numbers. Here is what we found out when we spoke to a top literary agent.

Juliet: When writers tell you that they MUST traditionally publish, do they share why? Is there language they use consistently to articulate why they will not publish any other way?

Agent: It’s typically some form of ego, fueled by a misplaced judgment of self-publishing as “not real.” They think, “I want a real publisher.” The thinking behind this prejudice takes various forms, all based on assumptions about trade publishing vs. self-publishing that aren’t true.

Juliet: What are the numbers that you must have for your clients to pitch? Is it email list size? Open rates? Social media audience size? Do you look at engagement at all? What criteria are you looking for specifically regarding audience? Are there any numbers that I have not included?

Agent: First of all, my goals as an agent are shared by many, but not every other agent. There are agents with different assumptions about the business, different ways of doing business, than I have. So you may wish to query some other agents with these questions.

My goal is to represent books that can reach a national or international audience of general readers and have a real shot at becoming New York Times bestsellers.

The goals you as a platform builder can set for your clients would be to help them increase their market visibility… measurable increases in their quantifiable audience.

This means, by definition, that the author must have an active, quantifiable following into which publishers can sell their books when they come out.

There are some agents who are happy representing niche books, kids’ books, academic books, literary fiction…books that tend to sell to academic or indie publishers for author advances in the $1K-$5K range and never sell more than a few hundred copies. Those books don’t need a built-in audience, but it takes an agent as much work to sell a $3K book as it does sell a $300K book, and at a 15% commission. I’m not sure how an agent makes a living negotiating $3K deals.

Clients whose book projects I find attractive possess a variable array of factors, all adding up to an audience ready to buy a book. For memoir, they need to be Famous (with a capital F) or have an extraordinary story that’s extraordinarily well- written. For big non-fiction, they need to be a nationally recognized expert, and have some combination of meaningful awards, articles published in prominent journals or magazines, a lively lecture schedule, regular appearances in nationally viewed/followed media (print, tv, radio, online), a popular column, blog, podcast, YouTube channel, etc., and/or large social media following. The threshold number where I (and publishers) start getting interested is around 100K active followers/ readers/listeners/attendees.

Juliet: What do we need to set goals for clients we take on? I am a big proponent of setting reasonable expectations. If I have baseline numbers and goal numbers, it is easier to set expectations about how long it will take and what sort of time it will take to achieve. The number one objection I get when I present an offer is, “How much time will this take? I don’t have time to do build this.” The second is money. It is much easier to overcome a money objection than a time objection.

Agent: Most people underestimate how much time and money a book project requires and overestimate the number of copies they will sell. My observation is that if these people were going to build a national platform, they would have done so, or would be on their way to doing so, and not thinking of publishing a book as the shortcut to fame and fortune. Instead, it’s people who have no platform, and no intention or means to build one, who (wrongly) assume that if they can just find an agent who believes in their book that they will get a big publishing deal and be a bestselling author. The old adage, “It takes 10 years to make an overnight sensation,” holds true in book publishing.

The goals you as a platform builder can set for your clients would be to help them increase their market visibility… measurable increases in their quantifiable audience. More articles published. More podcast appearances. More lecture requests. Etc. You cannot in my mind promise that they will be able to get an agent and sell their book and be a bestselling author (the dream of many who will come to you). It could happen if things go really well, but it can’t be a promised outcome. You can certainly promise to help them publish a book that itself, as a marketing tool, helps them accomplish their long-term goals of market visibility. But the book will be an investment in their future, a marketing expense, like building a website, not an ATM machine that will get them out of debt.

To round up, we also discussed the steps to submitting a proposal. As a publisher, I frequently hear stories from writers who tell me that they spent an enormous amount of money writing the book and the proposal. The literary agent shared with me that your book should never be written before the proposal. He sees scams like this out there every day. The proposal is the first step. If the proposal is rejected, it is time to explore other publishing platforms and begin writing the book.

About the author

Juliet Clark is a six- time author, speaker and podcaster who has spent the last twenty years helping authors, coaches, speakers, and small businesses all over the world build expert audiences. She started out as a mystery novelist and is best known or her books Gypsy, Granny Heist, and Dead by Dawn, and Pitchslapped. At age 46, she received a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and is an avid hiker and golfer.