If authors should be blogging in order to promote their books and their brand name as authors, then literary agents should also be blogging to promote their authors, their clients.
There are a number of literary agents who do blog. The most notable was Miss Snark, who recently retired from blogging to marry George Clooney. (Ok, you have had to read Miss Snark regularly to understand that). Miss Snark gave great advice to writers seeking to land a contract with a literary agent.
And there are a number of other literary agents with good blogs that address how to get an agent and the business side of publishing, working with agents, editors, book touring, etc. Some of the literary agent blogs in my bloglines are Lit Agent X (a great blog), Pub Rants (another nice blog with daily updates as to why agent Kristen is listening to on her iPod), and BookEnds (also with good info for those seeking an agent).
Don’t get me wrong…these literary agent blogs are very good but all literary agencies also can benefit from blogs that are geared towards promoting the books by their clients. I think that literary agents know that but they’re just not yet that hooked into this whole Web 2.0 environment. Almost every literary agency Web site has cover images of books by their authors. But blogs are even better at communicating the accomplishments of an agency and its authors.
There are a lot of things that literary agencies do with blogs:
- post about signing new authors
- post about new deals
- post about upcoming release dates for books
- post previews of upcoming or newly released books, include cover art so that potential buyers will recognize the book in the stores
- post about your authors, link to their Web sites and blogs
- post about your authors’ book tours
- post links to reviews of your authors’ books
- post whenever one of your authors has an interview
- post about the softcover release of a book
- brag about authors who receive awards
- post about how often a title has been reprinted
- and remember to post about titles from previous years by authors who are still clients
And that’s just a few suggestions from the top of my head. Any links to literary agents who are now blogging in this manner?
Literary agents are always talking about the importance of platform for authors. Well, a literary agency’s own blog can be a crucial part of marketing and promoting its writers. A blog is an excellent way for a literary agency to show that they believe in their own writers.
This takes too much time!
Yes, I know, literary agents are very, very busy. A blog is a great idea but there’s no time for all that. Good point. While it’s best if the literary agency blog is written by an actual literary agent or an assistant, the writing of a corporate blog is often outsourced.
The rates for freelance blogging of this type is very reasonable. And, heaven knows, there are a gazillion MFA graduates floating around who would eagerly take on this type of work, particularly if they thought their sterling prose for an agent’s blog might help land a contract for that eventual novel.
And if you can’t afford someone in North America, there are plenty of expats around the world with degrees in English who work for a very low rate since their costs-of-living are so low. I could easily find a dozen articulate expats here in Buenos Aires that eagerly would do this type of work. Writing for a blog does not require that the blogger work on-site in the literary agency; e-mail, chat, and Skype provide enough tools for an agent and blogger to communicate in order produce a successful blog.
Better Blogs & Better Web Sites for Literary Agents
So, how can we help?
In a couple of weeks we at sorodesign will be announcing a special package developed specifically for literary agents. This special package will include a customized Web site design and an integrated blog.
Be watching this blog for that announcement!