The Role of Literary Agents in Self-Publishing
A common question among authors considering self-publishing is, “Do I need a literary agent to self-publish my book?” The answer, many are happy to hear, is that you do not.
Literary agents have a unique role in the book industry. In exchange for a percentage of your profits, an agent sends your manuscript to publishing companies to see who would like to bid on and publish it. They act as your representative to publishers and others within the traditional publishing industry, negotiating deals on your behalf and handling administrative tasks. But by self-publishing, you’re shortcutting all of this and therefore don’t need to hire a literary agent in order to produce and sell your book.
This doesn’t mean that you can’t have one if you want. Though literary agents have traditionally had nothing to do with self-publishers, this is changing. With so many established writers hiring agents to help with self-publishing, the industry is adjusting to accommodate them. In fact, an increasing number of self-publishing authors are hiring literary agents after their book is self-published and available for purchase in an attempt to break into the commercial publishing industry.
Using a literary agent to help with getting your self-published book picked up by a publishing company can be a great idea, but you’ll still need to self-publish first. This is where NWA Publishing comes in. We offer all the services you need to self-publish your next book, from editing to cover design, printing and marketing.
You might even consider utilizing NWA Publishing instead of hiring a literary agent at all. We can help with many of the things a literary agent would, such as book promotion and manuscript evaluation. And unlike literary agents, who take a share of your profits in exchange for their services, we charge a one-time fee per service. To learn more about what NWA Publishing has to offer and the available self-publishing packages, click here.
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