This guest post is by Jennifer Lawler, author of more than two dozen books, magazine writer, and agent with the Salkind Agency.

I’ve been a writer for about fifteen years, writing mostly non-fiction books in the how-to and self-help categories. For the past few years, I’ve done a lot of coaching with writers and have taught several popular e-courses. I knew I wanted to devote more time to that part of my career, but couldn’t quite figure out what it would look like.

Then, earlier this year, opportunity came along and whacked me upside the head. I accepted an offer to become an agent with the Salkind Agency. What better way to help writers than to work with them to see their book ideas make it all the way to publication? (The story of my second act can be found here.

I’ve been at this for an entire month now, and the amazing thing is how quickly sitting on this side of the desk has cured me of some bad habits as a writer. Here’s a quick round-up of some of those things:

Mistake #1. Thinking I was more important than my idea. I always figured that my track record, my credentials, my willingness to work hard and never say mean things about my editors were the most important assets I had to offer. I was wrong. As an agent, I can’t really do much with a client’s potential. I can, however, do an awful lot with a really good book proposal, or a well-written manuscript. What I need to know FIRST is what your idea is; all the rest is secondary, and can be finessed.

Mistake #2. Thinking errors are eternal. As a writer, I’ve done bone-headed things, like put the wrong editor’s name in a salutation, or pitch the wrong idea to the wrong person, when a little more research would have revealed the right idea for the right person. As an agent, I’ve already encountered people who’ve done annoying things, but you know what? I don’t even remember their names. If they pitched me tomorrow, they’d get a clean slate. Just don’t remind me that you’re the person who was mistakenly spamming my blog for a week and we’re golden.

Mistake #3. Thinking good enough is good enough. Having been in the business for a lot of years, I’ve occasionally found myself thinking, “Well, I’ll just throw a couple of thoughts together and send it out, see if anyone bites.” Why kill myself over an idea that isn’t going to go anywhere? As an agent, though, I see too many “good enough” ideas that I turn down when I would have snapped up the next round’s “as good as I can make it in this lifetime” effort. It’s just too much work for me to tell you how to get it from “good enough” to “as good as I can make it” and I’m only going to do that for a few people who have really really great ideas and that I am convinced I can work well with. Which is not most of the universe.

Mistake #4: Thinking all offers are final. As a writer, I’m sometimes quoted a fee or given a contract that isn’t all I’d like it to be. Too many times I’ve either just turned down the assignment/opportunity on that basis, or I’ve swallowed a less-than-stellar deal. As an agent, I’m more than happy to negotiate contract terms or other details of our arrangement. I want us both to be happy. It’s true that the agency owner has the final say and there are some items he won’t budge on, but there’s a lot that can be tweaked. Moral: Talk to your editor/agent about what you want. He or she may be able to do a lot more than you think.

Go here for information on how to pitch me. I can be reached at Jennifer at studiob dot com.

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