Do you have to pay a literary agent?

When you apply to an agent and get accepted, you don’t have to pay them at first. Whoever charges you before they got you a deal with a publisher is fake and trying to bleed you white. When they get you a contract/deal with a publisher, they get percentage of whatever the publisher pays you. It depends on the deal and on the agent how high that percentage is. My agent gets percent, which is average. Any more than is abnormal, too, and you should not work with any agent who charges that much.

If you have any other questions, I’ll gladly help. Just email me.

Source(s): published author

Absolutely not. If an “agent” asks for any form of payment up-front, leg it. It means they’re a scam, pretty much. Agents do get paid, yes, but not until you’re published (after which they’ll take a percentage of the profits). So always keep that in mind. Legitimate agents never ask you to pay them directly.

If you want to find reputable agents (i.e. not scam artists) I’d suggest checking out The Writer’s Market, or Writer’s Digest. They’ll also give you some good hints on how to write a winning query letter, and which agents specialise in your novel’s genre.

Hope that helps!

challenging task. search from yahoo. this might help!