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I don't know why you say "an agent isn't in scope". An agent's job is to make sure you don't get cheated, and you will get cheated if you don't have an agent. As an author, you have no negotiating ...
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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/29894 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision
I don't know why you say "an agent isn't in scope". An agent's job is to make sure you don't get cheated, and you **will** get cheated if you don't have an agent. As an author, you have no negotiating power, so they will only present you with a contract that is most favorable to them and least favorable to you, and they won't negotiate the terms with you because they know you're not an agent. An agent will be able to negotiate with the publisher and you will make more money than the agent's fee. Even agents who write books will get other agents to represent them (I can cite Nathan Bransford as a specific example of a former agent who got another agent to represent him). So the correct answer is to try to get an agent. There is literally no reason not to do it.