tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31033821.post291049832139065262..comments2023-10-26T11:34:38.322-04:00Comments on Ask Allison: Which Comes First: The Agent or The Article?Allison Winn Scotchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06820208316115681320noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31033821.post-89782132890946045942008-02-29T10:15:00.000-05:002008-02-29T10:15:00.000-05:00Courtney-Thanks for chiming in. FWIW, I think you...Courtney-<BR/>Thanks for chiming in. FWIW, I think you got some crappy advice. Here's why - and I'll discuss this next week on the blog because I think it's REALLY important - in order to sell a non-fiction book, you absolutely must have a platform. You likely won't get a book deal without one, so waiting to land magazine assignments after you land the book deal...well, it's backwards because in order to land the book deal, you need to have magazine clips (or visibility on some level). While the same doesn't hold entirely true for fiction, you will likely get a bigger advance if you are well-connected and have magazine visibility.<BR/>We can chat about this more next week, but I just wanted to encourage you to consider this and not shy away from pitching in light of this agent's advice!<BR/>AllisonAllison Winn Scotchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06820208316115681320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31033821.post-22504910437140121232008-02-29T07:48:00.000-05:002008-02-29T07:48:00.000-05:00For what it's worth: I met an agent last summer wh...For what it's worth: I met an agent last summer who said the converse... write the book and get an agent first, then go on to magazines. Her thinking wasn't necessarily that she would pitch the magazines for me but that editors I pitched would be more receptive because of the book deal... that the agent was essentially vetting my ability to write. I haven't finished the book yet though so I can't say whether that's true or not.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31033821.post-66942787791088290642008-02-26T17:54:00.000-05:002008-02-26T17:54:00.000-05:00I totally agree w/you. You don't need an agent to ...I totally agree w/you. You don't need an agent to pitch most mags on your behalf. I haven't found that agents are all that connected with magazine editors, anyway, and mine has told me that I should just do it myself and keep the 15%. I also agree with you re: going through a publicist occasionally, though, especially if you're pitching an idea that could be tied to your book. (Your publicist might also offer to do some sort of giveaway in conjunction with the piece.) I'm actually working on something like that right now!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05533754739491668621noreply@blogger.com