Textbook authors should consider hiring an agent

Literary agent Michael Rosenberg says textbook authors are the most under-represented group of writers in the country. Not even their editors, he says, work with them on intimate details of the books. Traditionally, Rosenberg notes, textbook authoring was somewhat of a closed society," said Rosenberg, co-owner of the Rosenberg Group literary agency. "The relationship between the writer and the editor was concentrated on the book. Today, with the mergers and acquisitions taking place in publishing, he said, the dynamics of the writer-editor relationship has shifted. "Authors are now looking for advice and counsel to handle all the changes. Editors no longer work on manuscripts. They have instead become the managers of their list. They have become more distant from the work itself, handing the manuscript off to another team once the book is signed."

Rosenberg, on the other hand, helps authors refine their proposal before submitting them to a publisher. "We make sure that by the time the manuscript is submitted to the publisher it is in tip-tip shape," he said. Rosenberg and his wife Barbara Collins Rosenberg opened their agency with the intention of representing only textbook authors. They decided to become a full-service agency after several of their text authors kept asking them to also represent them on a professional or trade book project. They now split their clientele into thirds: one-third textbook authors, one-third non-fiction and one-third trade.

Rosenberg hopes to expand his list of textbook author clients. He is hoping that as the role of the editor narrows even further, and editors offer even less of the personal service they used to, agents will be able to fill that role, helping the authors hone their products -- and get the best contract. "While sales representatives can pass on possible authors to editors, and editors can help get the book ready for production, only agents can give advice on how to sell the book to an editor," he said. "In the trade world, you can't get your book looked at without an agent. The agent has become the editor, evaluating proposals first. That is what I hope happens with textbook publishing."

One of the biggest advantages to having an agent, said Rosenberg, is that a good agent is knowledgeable about the textbook environment. Rosenberg was in college publishing for 16 years and his wife for nine. They know a lot of people in the business. "A trade agent wouldn't know where to start in determining what is happening in the college textbook publishing arena," he said. The Rosenbergs talk with sales reps and editors to find out what is happening on the front lines of textbook publishing. "This gives us valuable information that helps us in negotiations," he said. "An under-represented author will negotiate a contract thinking only about the first edition. When they look at it that way, they are at a disadvantage, since most textbooks span several editions and will have an average life of 12 years. An agent will negotiate a contract anticipating the long-term success of a book."

"At this point, we've contacted every major college publisher to sell a project," said Rosenberg. "We have not found any publisher who refused to consider a project we were representing because an agent was involved." The agent's role, he said, is to make sure the product is in top form. When an agent submits a manuscript, the publisher expects a quality product, he said, "Why should they turn that down?"

The publisher offering the most money isn't always the best publisher for the book. Other things factor into deciding which publisher to query, including:

"Once we know these things, we will find the best publisher for the book," he said. "Then we determine how much the book is worth to the publisher, exactly the way the publisher does, coming up with a formula that tells us what the break even point would be. That is when the negotiations begin to make merit."

Rosenberg's commission is a flat 15 percent. He is "confident" that he's worth it, saying he will improve any contract an author could make on his or her own by 15 percent overall.

One of Rosenberg's clients, Bruce Ballenger, author of The Curious Researcher, published by Allyn & Bacon without the use of an agent, and Readings for the Curious Researcher, published by Allyn & Bacon with the help of Rosenberg's firm, says Rosenberg definitely negotiated a better contract for the second book. "Although the 15 percent was difficult to give up, I easily got it back," he said. "Michael knew the intricacies of contracts -- which are almost always boilerplate," he said. "The publisher expects you to sign the boilerplate contract with little or no changes."

Ballenger said Rosenberg was able to negotiate contract terms that were more in his favor. "I had never asked for research funds before," he said. "Michael wrote a $3,000 sum into the contract for that. He was also good at making sure I was protected as far as electronic rights." When he had a question about who creates the home page -- assuming it would be him -- Rosenberg said the publisher should also take some responsibility for creating it.

Ballenger said he was most impressed with Rosenberg's efforts to make sure his electronic rights were preserved. "The advantages are not only what he or she can do for you now, but their sense of what is happening in the future," he said.

Ballenger said his editor was surprised to learn that he had contacted an agent for his second book. Since his first book was purchased un-agented from Allyn & Bacon, he said, his editor didn't understand why he felt the need for one with the second. "That was it, though," he said. "He was relatively compliant with the agent, and I haven't had any problems."

Textbook industry publishers aren't used to authors having agents," said Ballenger. "It's still a novel idea. There's a real need, and Rosenberg is starting to fill it."

Donald Murray, a Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist for the Boston Globe and a successful textbook author, is also a Rosenberg client. He has 10 textbooks in print, four of which were negotiated by an agent. "When I had an agent my contracts were much better than when I didn't have one," said Murray.

Murray, who came into the textbook business as a professional writer, has had four agents over the years. "One agent helped me fight a battle over royalties for subsequent editions," he said. "I wish I had had an agent for every book."

Authors have trouble being their own agents, he said, because they are insecure and sometimes desperate to get published. Even though he has won a Pulitzer, Murray said he is still uncomfortable asking for a contract that reflects what he is worth: "I do not like to sell myself. An agent can sell me by professionally pointing out my credentials, my strengths, and marketing value while I modestly scuff my feet in the dirt and say, 'Aw, shucks.'"

"I think an agent is essential for a textbook author," said Murray, who has written for Houghton Mifflin, Heinemann, and Harcourt Brace. "Most academics do not like the idea that the textbook business is a business and not a pure intellectual, socially progressive affair. But it is a business, it is a business, it is a business. The editor knows this and if the author doesn't, the author is at an extreme disadvantage."

His other reasons for having an agent:

Murray said he has generally found that his editors prefer to work with an agent. It makes the negotiation much more professional. "I feel more comfortable with an agent and I think my editor does too," he said. "I would not want an editor who did not want me to have an agent. In almost more than four decades of publishing I have never had an editor who objected to my having an agent. Just the opposite. The editor can deal with a professional on the financial and marketing aspects of the book, and deal with the writer on the editorial matters."

Is it true that publishers don't mind working with an agent. Pearson Education spokesperson Wendy Spiegal said the majority of textbook proposals under consideration are represented by the company's editors, who have relationships with the authors, or by sales representatives who learned of a professor's interest in writing in that field. But, she said, "if an agent approached one of our editors, consideration would be given to that agent and author given the publishing opportunity within that dedicated list."