What if an agent wants to publish a book?

[s sjg]

I mean, most writers get an agent who'll help them get published. You can get published without one, but it's a lot easier with one. But what if an agent wants to write a book? Do they usually contact an agent friend to help them, or send a query to an agent they don't know, or do they try to get it published without one? Anyone know?

[inferno15]

I would assume that the author would be able to get it published his/her self since they are an agent, so they wouldnt need anyone else, wouldnt they just be able to use themselves as the agent?

[Jeremy J]

Agents don't normally busy themselves with the affairs of the humans. They simply run their Matrix and feed on their peoples.

You should take a hint

[Steven J Pemberton]

An agent is valuable to an author because of his knowledge of the publishing business, and because of the people in it who know him and trust his judgement. Therefore, if he wants to publish a book himself, I'd expect him to act as his own agent.

The exceptions would be if he doesn't have the time to do it, or if his book is very different from the sort of book he normally represents. Agents usually specialise in particular genres, and they tend to work with publishers who specialise in them (or editors who work for those publishers and specialise in those genres). So if someone who normally represents horror writes a historical romance, he might not know anyone he could sell it to.

[Mia]

There are a number of agents who are also writers, and none the ones I know of act as their own agent. I'm sure there are some who do?

Two of the writer-agents I know of include:

Nathan Bransford
"Then I had to find an agent. And no, I couldn’t represent myself. I sent out my queries, got my share of rejections, stressed plenty, but found my way to the awesome Catherine Drayton at Inkwell, who, to my extreme delight, agreed to take it on."
http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2009/09/...erbar.html

Mandy Hubbard
Answering the question "do you need your own agent."
"*technically*? No. But shes a sounding board, a fierce advocate...and I dont want to argue w/ my own pub on tuff issues"
http://twitter.com/MandyHubbard/status/18132595358

Because agents are the go-between, it allows the author to stay out of the tough negotiations about money and rights and things, and focus on working with their editor on the book. It keeps the relationship friendly and allows a more impersonal go-between with less emotional involvement in the book. So yes, technically they could act as their own agent, but from what I've seen, most don't.