Before taking on an agent, you have to first evaluate yourself. Are you the type of person that has to do everything yourself or can you hand off important responsibilities to others?

You have to be willing to trust your agent. Trust that he or she is out there negotiating with publishers for you. Trust that your money will be collected, 10 to 20 percent taken off the top for your agent's fee and then the rest sent to you promptly. You even have to trust your agent to choose the right publisher for you...even if it's not a major one.

Before you decide you'd rather do all the legwork yourself, consider this: Agents are a powerful force in the publishing world.

On your own, you could send out your manuscript to 10 different publishing houses. But an agent has an insider's view of what those 10 currently need. This helps you eliminate a waste of time and money sending out your manuscript to a publisher that's not interested from the start.

Agents target the right publisher for your manuscript. They know the editors. Have lunch with them. See them in social settings. It's a more casual approach than a hard sell.

Publishers also consider agents a valuable resource because they weed out manuscripts that aren't ready to go. This saves the publisher the extra effort of having to slave through a pile of manuscripts for the one that screams, "Jackpot."

Another advantage of having an agent is the money factor. Many writers are so anxious to see their work in print, they tell the publisher money doesn't matter. Be glad that, for agents, money does matter. They're motivated to get you the best deal. On your manuscript. On advances. Even on paperback and foreign sales.

And they don't stop there. While turning your novel into a movie is a long-shot, an agent does have connections in New York and Hollywood that can help turn your dream into a reality.