Hello, friends! Welcome to episode 5 of Write the Book, Play the Game, a podcast about the business of being an author. We’re once again revealing everything we wish we knew when we started out as tiny baby authors at Big 5 publishers and have learned along the way.

In the penultimate episode of Season 1, we’re discussing the author-agent relationship—one of the most important partnerships in your writing career.

We aren’t talking about query letters or manuscript wish lists—there are tons of great resources on that process already. But we will dive into…

* How to assess an agent’s fit during the querying and offer stages

* Exactly what an agent does (and doesn’t) do and how the agent’s role has changed

* The surprising truth about the agent-author power dynamic

* The crucial (yet often overlooked) questions to ask your agent

* Stress-tested tips for building a productive working relationship

* The first thing to try if you’re unhappy with your agent

* Tricks for assuaging authorly anxiety without annoying your agent

* How querying works when you’re already published

…and more. You can listen to or watch the convo in a browser or the Substack app, or listen via your favorite podcast player (instructions here).

Next week, in our final episode of the season, we’ll delve into the strategies and hacks that make our lives as midlist authors manageable. Happy listening!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit writethebookplaythegame.substack.com

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Erscheinungs­datum: 3.10.2025, 15:00:00