For the past couple years I have been following Chip MacGregor's blog. He is an agent in the CBA market of great reputation, and I have watched as his agency grows and expands with a carefully selected few: talented, enthusiastic, and energetic people.
Back in 2006 when I first interested AMG Publishers in my The Sword of the Dragon series, I also acquired an agent. But after nine months that agent decided she wasn't going to do fantasy after all. Fortunately for me, I was already working with AMG toward a contract. Two years later the contract failed to happen, so I self-published and sold enough copies that AMG again looked into my books.
When AMG offered me the contract I considered looking for a literary agent because 1) they understand contract language and negotiation, and 2) I considered that future projects could be shopped to other publishing houses.
I decided not to 1) because I didn't want to give 15% of my royalties to an agent, and 2) I felt I had a good handle on what I wanted from AMG.
My first AMG novel has been out for over a year now, and I've found that I need someone in my corner with the publishing houses. Someone who can 1) connect my projects with publishers looking for them, 2) shop foreign and subsidiary rights, and 3) help guide my career so that I end up making a good living at what I do.
MacGregor Literary Agency added Amanda Luedeke to their roster and at a recent point she wrote a series of posts on Chip's blog. I found her refreshing, driven, and imaginative, and kept my eye on her progress from then on.
Today I am pleased to announce that, after a lengthy phone conversation with Amanda, she is signing a contract with me as my agent. I am very excited about this. With all of the book touring I've done, the writing, and the editing, I can't take the time to attend enough writer's conferences or retail shows to make the contacts I need, and land good contracts. Amanda has those contacts and I thank God for this opportunity to work with a strong agency, and an agent who is keen on the very genres I love to write.
Here are a couple links for more info:
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