Selling your client is the agents' most important part of the job. After all it's how they earn their 10%.

"The most difficult part of my job is getting people to say yes and convincing buyers to buy our project or hire our writer for an assignment. Basically I have to be able to convey my belief and passion for that writer so that they can see what that writer can offer them. Yes is a very difficult word in this business."
--Garth Pappas, literary manager

The agent's first step to selling clients is through their contacts. For an agent, if there isn't a connection to buyers, it doesn't matter how good or talented the client is - sales are a dead end. This is why it's important for a "Rep" to build and update a strong rolodex in the production and studio world, return favors, lunch, wine and dine. It's the agent's job to get their client and their work in front of a buyer or decision maker. They should have clients they believe in or at worst believe others could believe in them. Additionally, they must be very passionate about what they're selling.

For the new, young agent it's even more important to pitch clients to as many people as possible. During the introductory phase, much of the selling is a numbers game - the more people they introduce a client to the better the odds that they'll find a fan of the material.

So what is the process for pitching a new client?

While each representative has their own method, there is a gold standard that is consistently used in the market place, depending on the "industry cycle" - how new material is being sold to the studios. For instance, the 90's used the spec market as a place to introduce clients. If you had a big idea, reps would shop it in a competetive manner, hoping to create a bidding situation. However, currently the studios are generally less interested in a direct purchase and looking more to break new writers in the old-fashioned way: team them with trusted producers and develop a blisteringly good screenplay. While this process takes longer, it usually puts the material that much closer to the screen.

For the agent or manager, this means harder work for commissions. However, it also means that more of their clients will consistently work. The high-traffic sales game of the last decade has turned into a system more closely reprsenting high-end headhunters in the business world. Strategic placement and fair dealmaking are the keys to building the careers of burgeoning writers.