For some writers, the thought of negotiating a contract or networking at a social function fills them with dread. For others, contract law and haggling comes naturally, and meeting with editors, publishers, and booksellers is a vital counterpoint to the lonely months spent writing the book.

Let's have a look at what an agent does, and whether you could be your own agent.

Publishers are coming to rely on agents more and more as a screening process for new writers. There are so many unsolicited submissions to trawl through (the "slush pile") that manuscripts coming in from respected agents, with a track record for spotting good books, will get a bump up the "to look at" queue.

Agents make contacts at many of the publishing houses who share what the houses are currently looking for. It's usually a mutually symbiotic relationship - the agent reads for manuscripts that would fit each house and the publisher gets sent manuscripts that are pre-screened for this fit. An agent's job is to build relationships based on this understanding, so that they can work their way up to the level of most trusted agent, able to send in their clients' manuscripts and know that their recommendation will be given serious consideration.

Sometimes the agent and their clients get an extra benefit - if five publishing houses are after something similar, the agent can use his knowledge to get the houses bidding against each other for the rights to the manuscript. Surprisingly, publishers don't seem to mind when an agent sets something like this up - but authors often come across strict guidelines not to send out multiple submissions, either to publishers or agents.

Agents also keep up to date with the contracts and contract law specific to the writing industry. Even lawyers have been known to struggle with literary contracts, because they're different to other contracts. An agent should be able to negotiate a fair contract for you.

There are a myriad of rights available for sale related to the single manuscript that you produce. Standard publishing contracts often try to grab all of these rights from you, even though the publisher may never be in a position to create audio books or organise for a movie to be made of your book. Your agent's job is to ensure that the publisher only buys the rights they will use, and then go out and sell your other rights to the people who will use them to their full potential, earning you more money in the process and getting your name out into the world for more readers to find you. It can be quite tricky to sell foreign language rights as you're dealing with a number of different countries. Agents do this daily, though, and know who publishes books like yours.

If you're reading this and thinking it sounds interesting and exciting, then you may want to consider representing yourself. It takes an extroverted, confident person to be a literary agent, and some writers are the opposite of this type, which can make the author/agent partnership a valuable and rewarding one.

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I highly recommend From Pitch to Publication by Carole Blake if you want to know more about how the publishing industry works, what an agent does, and how to make the most out of this business relationship. It's a book I've refered to often over the years. However, it relates mainly to the British publishing industry.

Alternatively, you might want to read How To Be Your Own Literary Agent : An Insider's Guide to Getting Your Book Published by Richard Curtis