How to Agent Your Agent

Rating:
Summary: It's like being a fly on the wall of a talent agency
Review: As an agent, I have a love/hate relationship with this book. On the one hand, I hate it for exposing so many of my secrets. But on the other hand, I love that it's so direct and honest. Nancy ran her own successful talent agency for many years and she obviously knows what she's talking about. So if you're my client, please don't buy this book. But if you're not, I suggest you pick this one up right away.

Rating:
Summary: Here's the real deal kid
Review: Could also be the name of Nancy Rainford's insightful and energetic book. How to Agent Your Agent is at once a fun breezy read and the advice every actor needs to set up for themselves a realistic philosophy and strategy creating their success in the wild business of show. To all but brandname actors the interior life of the creature called agent is a mystery. Ms. Rainford dismantles so many myths there's little choice but to draw clean slate on what you think you know about agents. Comparable to "The Art of War," the hunter must understand the nature, habits, and motivations of game sought. If you believe in the value of your craft and take your business seriously read this book not once but over and over. Take a walk in the agents shoes so the agent can walk with you.

Rating:
Summary: finally
Review: finally a book that tells an actor how to manipulate the manipulators....

Rating:
Summary: Great Simple Book
Review: How to Agent your Agent by Nancy Rainford is everything it could and should be. I've read many books that try to give you a good look at the way to succeed in the entertainment industry, but until reading this book, i never felt i had the confidence to deal with the people in the business. After reading this book, i can say with a great amount of certainty that the next time i go into a meeting, i will know more, and i will do better. You love to see a book which answers all your questions on a subject.

Rating:
Summary: Excerpt from the Los Angeles Times
Review: How to Agent Your Agent is a self-help book of the Hollywood kind: part advice, part industry guide, with a dose of dish. In conversation, Rainford is not exactly charitable when it comes to describing agents agents: "Sharks and lawyer types." Rainford, whose clients have included Jada Pinkett-Smith, Adam Goldberg and Ray Liotta, offers tips to actors and screenwriters on how to squeeze more work from an agent, including "always appear to be busy" and "take credit when you can." Both, she says, will keep the agent motivated. "You have to cajole your agent to work harder for you," she says, adding that not every agent in the industry has understood the importance of what she calls the "three Ss: Sign, and Sell, Service."

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, witty and provocative!
Review: I collect "How to Books" because I'm a part-time actor and I'm into self-improvement! I'm always looking for ways to improve my craft and get into an audition I really want. HOW TO AGENT YOUR AGENT gave me some answers, plus a few pointers I hadn't considered, and a lot of insight into stuff that I had never even thought about before. Overall this book is entertaining, witty and thought provoking. More importantly, this writer confirmed that I am on the right track!

Rating:
Summary: Extremely helpful!
Review: I couldn't believe how helpful and insightful this book is! I not only bought a copy for myself, but after reading it, I also bought copies for two of my friends. I'm sure this is the kind of information that agents will HATE having their clients know -- all the secrets and tricks. But it is imperitive that every actor and writer know the information that is in this book in order to best take control of their own careers, whether they already have an agent, or are currently searching. "How to Agent your Agent" is not only enlightening, but entertainly written and full of great real-life stories and examples.

Rating:
Summary: Graduation Present
Review: I hope this isn't too late, but think of this: if you have a son or daughter graduating this year and they say they are going to Hollywood you MUST buy them this book. Here is a book written by the ultimate insider (one who has seen Hollywood from many angles, has worked with the people you only see on the silver screen, and obviously has the gift of gab she writes about). Basically, the author answers the question of why there are is so much good talent waiting tables and driving the Universal Studios tram: you have to WORK to get work in Hollywood. In addition to the inside tips and inside dirt there is a very valuable addition of the resources available to the potential "star." All of this is wrapped up in a very well written package. If you want to act, you pass up this book at your peril.

Rating:
Summary: The Real Deal For Actors, Writers and Just Plain Folks
Review: Nancy Rainford offers so much great information to actors and writers, but there's also a lot of advice that people can use in their daily lives. It reminds me of Dale Carnegie's "How To Win Friends and Influence People" applied to show biz. If you were ever wondering why your calls aren't getting returned, the answers lie here......

Rating:
Summary: Wish there were more "tricks of the trade."
Review: Only a small section of this book - a "FAQ" - is devoted to "how to agent your agent. Most of this book is a very well written insider's look at what an agent does, with lots of anecdotes from Rainford's work as an agent. Great if you don't know what agents do, but if you're a professional looking for that edge - I'm working, how to I get more out of my agent - there isn't that much you won't have figured out already.