How do agenting styles vary within the same family? Are there generational differences when agents approach opportunities such as self- and hybrid publishing, which didn’t exist until a few years ago? Or in how they define their role, which in some ways is continually evolving, and in other ways hasn’t changed at all?

I asked legendary publishing veteran Robert Gottlieb, who founded Trident Media Group, and his son Mark Gottlieb, who is growing his list and has been groomed to work in his family’s business from the start. 

How is it advantageous—financially or otherwise—for self-published authors to enlist the services of a literary agent, especially if they are making a sizable profit independently? Can authors successfully straddle the traditional and indie publishing worlds without creating any conflicts of interest?

At the Romance Writers of America (RWA) annual conference, I attended a panel called “Agents and the Self-Published/Hybrid Author: A Winning Combination” in which agent Bob Mecoy at Creative Book Services answered these and many related questions, and I followed up with him after the panel. I also sat down with agent Kristin Nelson at Nelson Literary Agency to ask her opinion about the indie author–literary agent partnership.

Many writers today opt to self-publish so they can bypass literary agents. Why go through what might be an endless cycle of sending out query letters—and pay an agent’s commission—when it’s so easy to publish a book independently?

Some of the most successful authors in the indie writing community, however, do have representation. So how does an agent assist in a debut or established writer’s self-publishing endeavors? Can an agent effectively advocate for her clients’ best interests if she’s also acting as their publisher? I spoke with literary agent Jessica Faust about these topics and more.