Quote:
Originally Posted by darryl
KKR is not a lawyer, but she does her homework on these things, and knows her business. Literary agents owe their existence to publishers who essentially outsourced the job of finding new books for publication to them. Authors who wanted to be published had little option but to engage an agent. If, of course, they could find one who would deign to accept them. But, thanks largely to Amazon, agents are superfluous. Why would you want an English major with close ties with publishers to negotiate contracts for you? To look after your money? To in fact receive it first because they don't trust you to pay them? KKR has made very plain that in her view authors do not need and should not hire agents. She seems to have a new convert in Chuck Palahniuk!
If this is a reputable agency I would hate to see a non-reputable one. Yes, there is no reason to believe that the agency itself or its principals behaved in a criminal fashion. But it seems their business practices and procedures left a lot to be desired. Was there no audit conducted? With other peoples money involved? We will, I suspect, find out at some time in the coming years. I feel very sorry for the authors concerned. It is a tragedy that iconic works like The Godfather and Fight Club may be caught up in this mess.
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There is room for some kind of intermediary for people looking to deal with tradpubs but the problem is that, unlike with real estate agents, there is no body certifying literary agents. Anybody off the street can proclaim themselves a literary agent. And in the cozy incestuous corporate publishing culture there is no regard for modern business practices or transparency. On the contrary, murkiness is preferred. Well, intentional murkiness and lax internal practices just bit a bunch of folks in the gluteus maximus. A 7 to 8 figure bite.
The key recommendation of today's business world remains: whenever you deal with a corporation on affairs of money, hire a lawyer. In this case, an IP lawyer. Regardless of whether you believe in literary agents or not. The other guys have a swarm of sharks so it only makes sense to bring your own shark to the party. It's not as if they charge 15% in perpetuity.
Penny wise, pound foolish.
Or as repeated above: trust but verify. Which translates to: blindly trust nobody.
