A sports agent. In its simplest form, a sports agent is an individual or company who represents a sportsperson. They try to get them a better contract, a better endorsement, a better sponsorship, a better deal. Nothing wrong with that, is there? Or is there? The problem, inevitably, is money. So much money now sloshing around in professional sport today. And human greed – which can lead to conflicts of interest...So How to be a Sports Agent is a practical and down-to-earth book that reveals the secrets behind the art of being not just a good sports agent, but a good, honest sports agent.

It includes:

Analysis of what it is to be an agent and how to ensure a watertight legal contract between the agent and his client. The regulation of agents in various sports, and how to comply.

The difference between a good agent and a bad agent. Creation of playing contracts, particularly in regard to soccer, cricket and rugby and covers the most common pitfalls.

Marketing, merchandising, licensing and sponsorship deals. How to negotiate them and how to draft them. The art of negotiation, and the balance between on and off pitch activities.

The role of the lawyer as agent and adviser. Keeping the clients happy, getting new clients and keeping the clients happy when you have new clients.

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The book is a re-issue of an earlier volume entitled How to Succeed as a Sports Agent, but the omission of the possibility of success from the title should not be taken as a bad omen. Anyone with wit, a head for figures and cast-iron integrity should be able to make money by following Stein's precepts, providing, of course, that they have a first-rate contacts book and the ear of a dozen or so Premiership managers.

The truth is that making money as a sports agent is not the glamorous business it may seem, as the bulk of the job is related to the law and accountancy. Stein is a lively and opinionated individual, but some of his most successful contemporaries are rather boring, more at home with insurance law than champagne receptions. Most of us, though, would settle for being tediously rich."

Andrew Baker, Daily Telegraph (05/10/2006)