Computer Book Authors Agencies

While some people swear by computer book agents and talent agencies for computer book authors, the vast majority of computer book authors do not use an agent.

Publishers are choosey - Publishers invest tens of thousands of dollars in books, and they are very choosey about authors. Newbie’s and first-time authors are especially dangerous.
The author sells the book – A known author with lots of online articles and an industry reputation can double the sales of any computer book.
It’s a buyers market – I was able to find dozens of authors for computer books just by perusing the online portals. There never has been a shortage of computer book authors, and any agents who says that they can give you a list of titles to chose-from is lying to you.
Agents can ruin author opportunity – When with Coriolis (and later Rampant TechPress), I located over 50 authors for computer books. In every case where an author was represented by a computer book agent, the deal fell-through, mostly because of the agents lies and high-pressure tactics by the agent. I dreaded talking with any computer book agent because it usually meant listening to hours of lies and crap. I one case, and agent told me that so0-and-so publisher was bidding on the project and offering a 15% royalty! I knew the person at so-and-so, and quickly confirmed my suspicion that they were told that I was offering 15% too! I eventually learned not to bother with anyone desperate enough to need an agent.
Why pay an agent? - Fifteen percent is a huge cut of computer book author royalties. Most major computer book publishers offer non-negotiable royalty rates for first-time computer book authors. O'Reilly computer book author contract details are published for all to see, and I know that I got the "standard" 10% for both O'Reilly books that I published, even though I'm an established computer book author.