Before the internet, many writing advice books focused on suggesting ways for a new writer to land a literary agent. In the world of traditional publishing, agents acted as go-betweens for the author and the publisher. An author would send the manuscript to an agent instead of to a publisher, and if the agent agreed to represent the author, then the agent would be the one who would send the manuscripts around to the publishing companies with which they worked.
Authors with agents don’t deal directly with the publisher at any stage; that’s what the agent is paid to do. He is the author’s voice when negotiating contracts and rights, domestic and international, and his fees are paid from the author’s advance. So the agent only makes money when the author does, and it’s in his best interest t
