My Job
As a teacher, I have twenty-four students. Twenty-four kiddos with different needs and abilities, all entrusted in my care. A huge part of my job is to teach them, get them ready for life.
Another part of my job is interacting with parents. Parents who want the best for their children. Parents who sometimes can’t always see their child correctly, because, well, it’s hard when you’re that close. Part of my job is to be honest with parents, but to do so with tact and grace. Part of my job is to answer parents questions, address concerns, listen, offer advice, ensure them I’m doing everything in my ability to help their child succeed.
The Analogy
Just like parents send their children off to school, trusting the teacher will get their child ready for the world, clients send their manuscript off to their agent, trusting the agent will get their manuscript ready for submission – ready to be a published book!
Just like teachers face twenty-four students with varying needs and abilities, agents face a whole stack of manuscripts at different stages in the submission process.
And just like teachers communicate with parents about their children, agents communicate with clients about their manuscripts.
I always tell parents that we’re a team. Their child will receive the best education if we work together and communicate. Same goes for agents and clients. They work together and communicate so their book can receive the best possible chance at publication.
One Step Further
Sometimes it’s hard being a teacher. There’s only one of me and twenty-four of them. Sometimes I wish I could clone myself – then maybe I could get everything done in a day that I’d like to accomplish. I’m sure agents feel the same. Only they usually have more than twenty-four clients. And those clients usually have more than one manuscript. Agents have to juggle a lot of balls at one time. And (most of them) manage to juggle so gracefully.
Two Steps Further
Teachers tend to be underpaid, overworked, and under appreciated. Newsflash: We don’t teach for the money, or the glory. We teach because we love kids. We love seeing them reach their potential. Love seeing them thrive. Love calling parents to tell them their son or daughter had a fantastic day at school. I’m willing to bet it’s the same for agents. I can’t imagine many agents are in this for the money or the glory. I think most agents do what they do because they love books and they love writers.
One Last Thought
When I emailed Jody Hedlund to squee with her about Rachelle offering me representation, she emailed me something that made me smile, because I totally felt the same way. She said: It’s like we’re kids, and we just found out we’re in the same class.
So true. After I got the call, I was jumping around like a soon-to-be 5th grader who just found out she got her favorite teacher. “I got Mrs. Gardner! I got Mrs. Gardner!” And to top it off, I knew two of my really good friends were already in her class.
Questions to Ponder: What “teacher” do you have? Or what “teacher” are you hoping for?removetweetmeme
