Finding a Literary Agent: The One You Want Doesn't Need You

How do you find a literary agent for your manuscript? By going out and getting one!

And if an agent is needed, make sure to find a good one. The first thing to know about literary agents: the ones soliciting writers are the ones to stay away from. Reputable agents may have a listing in a Writers' Market Guide, or on Predators and Editors, but they aren't emailing, calling, or in any other form hitting on potential clients in hopes they'll draw business. In other words, the agent you want is the one who doesn't need you, and the one that may hurt you, is the agent who does.

Second thing to know: agents charging fees should be avoided like the plague. Stay far away from them. Agents, like Lawyers and doctors, work with a code of conduct. As with agents soliciting clients like an Avon Lady, the agent charging reading fees, editing fees, or any other fee associated with his business, such as postage or time billing, is more likely a masked robber than anyone serious about helping you publish your novel.

Be weary when an agent contacts you for work, especially if you are unpublished. Absolutely say no to any agent charging anything other than ten to fifteen percent on the SALE of your work.

There are different ways to find a reputable literary agent; the first may be the easiest...and yet the hardest.

Go to writing conferences. Many industry leaders, publishers, editors, and agents (along with many writers, both experienced and not) attend conferences each year, and there are many stories floating around of a writer meeting an agent at a writing conference, discussing writing and maybe even the writer's manuscript, and hitting it off.

Interacting with agents is a great way to become friends with, and potential clients to, an agent. But be aware, unless you have the money to travel and attend conferences or live near a metropolis (such as San Francisco or New York) where many literary agents live, finding an agent this way may not be possible.

Knowing someone who knows someone who knows an agent may be a very fortuitous event, and plausible if you communicate and interact with other writers or those in the publishing industry. If someone reads your manuscript and really enjoyed it, and they know an agent they can put in a good word to, you may find yourself not having to shop around.

Face to face contact is a great way of selling both yourself and your work, but remember, an agent is doing this for the money, not just the satisfaction of publishing new authors. You can do all the foot work in the world, or even have the special ties to get in the door, but no agent will take sub-par manuscripts seriously. Make sure everything written is fully revised, formatted, and edited to a standard of professionalism that would make...well...any literary agent proud.

For the rest of us, reputable agents can be found on Predators and Editors and in the Writers' Market at any local library. These two great resources are like telephone book directories containing the e-mail addresses, postal addresses, and telephone numbers of literary agents along with what work they represent and specific instruction to contact them.

In the case of P & E, the listings contain whether or not the agents are good, really good, average, or terrible. But even if it says nothing about a particular agent, you may be able to do an Internet search to find what others say about the agent's abilities. Also, look for agents who are members of the AAR (Association of Authors' Representatives), who have track records of published works, and comes from a background in the publishing industry.

Use this information to make a list of agents, removing any agents who charge fees, have negative fan-fare of any kind, or does not sell work in your genre. Make certain you're not wasting time sending horror fiction to agents who only deal in romance.

Once your list is completed, write a query letter, and either email it or send it snail mail to the first agent on your list, depending on what mode of communication the agent prefers. Some agents do things the old fashioned way, but more and more are turning to faster email communications.

In your query letter you will put all the most important information about your novel. You can find examples of writing query letters at

http://www.charlottedillon.com/query.html
and http://www.sfwa.org/writing/query.htm

Common sense would dictate, that if you're in a rush, you may safely query three, four, or even five literary agents at a time. If queried through email, response time may be a week or two. But chances are, if the agent is not interested, he will not respond back to you. Make sure you do not email the same agent twice. Keep good, detailed notes and mark off the agents you've contacted and if they've responded. After you send the first group of query letters, wait two weeks before sending the second batch.

If you get a positive reply, the agent may want to know more about your book, or ask for the first fifty or one hundred pages. Agents may also ask for the entire manuscript, but seldom do agents accept manuscripts over the web, so be prepared with a printer/copier and postage enough to mail four or five hundred pages.

Remember to always remain positive. You may go through a hundred agents before finding one that will even read your manuscript. Of course, you may get a catch on the first one or two. But you'll find yourself in need of some major perseverance, because you're not alone in looking for an agent. Thousands of other writers, right this instant, are looking for a literary agent to help them make their first sale.

For further resources, there are many informative books to help writers find agents, or even agenting their own material. How To Be Your Own Literary Agent by Richard Curtis and various articles in Reader Digest books like the Complete Guide to Novel Writing can be wonderful print resources for the information you need to know to tackle an agent with your writing. A simple search on Amazon.com or a look in your local bookstore can unearth other great books.

I've laid the groundwork for finding a literary agent, now your mission is to work hard, read the resources I've provided (even find more of your own), and get the right agent for you. By arming yourself with knowledge and gaining experience in the process of doing, you'll land the right agent at the right time to publish your book.