Literary Agents New York Area
How to Use the Internet to Search For Property
Our lives just keep getting busier and busier and we all find that we have less and less time to accomplish many of the things we want to. In many ways the internet has both helped and hindered us in our quest to achieve all that we want. One area where the internet has given us the gift of time is when it comes to finding property.
Whether you’re looking for your next property to buy or let, you’re just starting out on the property ladder, expanding your property portfolio or just looking to move out of home into a place of your own, the internet is a great place to start looking for just the right property.
Let’s say you live in Manchester or are looking to move to Manchester. In the case of the former viewing properties online will allow you to narrow your search before you go physically looking. In the case of the latter, physically visiting the city could be an impossibility or at least a huge problem so searching online is a great way to cherry pick one or two homes to view when you can visit.
The first thing to do is find an agent in the area in which you wish to live. For those looking to rent somewhere in Manchester, use a search engine and look for “letting agents Manchester” or “Manchester letting agents”. This will give you all the letting agents in the area and you can view properties on their websites. If you’re looking to buy, simply change the search to “estate agents Manchester” or some combination of those words. Again, you’ll get all the estate agents in the area and you can view properties for sale on their websites.
In addition, you will immediately have contact details for the agents you want. Using these you can request that they send you properties that match your criteria, again saving you a lot of time searchinig yourself.
You can also use the internet to find out more about specific areas within Manchester – or any other city you wish to live in. Sites like upmystreet.com and local government websites can give you a good idea of what the area is like.
You can find out about local amenities, schools, universities, local transport links, access to motorways, crime levels and that sortof thing. If you find a property you like you can even find out about that particular street. Using the Land Registry website you can find out about typical house prices so you know whether or not you’re paying a fair price for the property too.
Google is also a great place to go when researching your next home. Using Google’s Street View you can take a virtual walk around the neighbourhood in most areas in the UK, looking at the house your interested in, your potential neighbours’ houses, shops and local amenities. Google Earth will give you a top down view of the area and Google Maps will show you what is in the area too.
The internet is now your starting point when it comes to looking for new property and it will save you a lot of time and legwork when doing so.
Tagged with: literary agents new york area
Filed under: Uncategorized
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
Where is the best place to find an agent for a friend who is in the process of writing a nonfiction book?
He is in the process of writing a nonfiction book. He will be sending out a query letter within the next week and would like to find a literary agent in the Boston or New York City area to represent him. What is the best way to go about it and are there any web sites he could visit to see sample query letters, proposals, contacts and to find nonfiction book agents’ web sites? Any help would be much appreciated and thanks in advance as always.
publishing questions?
i recently finished a fantasy novel. i considered self-publishing but i feel that it would be an easier process to get a literary agent and go through a professional publishing company. the question is; how? how do i find a literary agent? does it have to be someone in my area? i live in philadelphia but would i be able to use an agent from new york since there are so many agents and it is close by? or should i go back to trying to self publish
Is it a good idea to seek literary agents in and out of my home state?
I live in New York but am currently looking to move into Northern California in January or February. I want to look for a literary agent for my novel length manuscript. The only thing is i don’t know where i’ll be living in the near future. Is it advisable to have a book agent from another state or should i really try to stay with the ones in my area? I would prefer to look in both CA and NY options but am not sure if having an agent so far away is a good idea. Thanks !
It doesn’t matter where your agent is in relation to you. Most literary agents are in New York City, since that’s where most of the publishing happens. And most authors who have agents (especially those who live outside NY) have an agent in a different state. Most people consider it advantageous to have an agent in NYC, since they have better access to editors.
The most important thing is to find the agent who will best represent you and your work.
Finding a reputable agent is very difficult. Most agencies have thousands of manuscripts sent to them every year and typically, they only select a few that are worthy to represent. DO NOT submit to anyone that requires up front money or “reading” fees. Good agencies will read your book for nothing if they are interested. Reading fees are a rip off.
You can check on legitimate agencies at the “Preditors & Editors” website. They keep an up to date list of current agents and any problems writers have had with them.
As for query letters, try the Absolute Writer website. Oh, and consider paying an editor to proof the work before submitting it–it’s worth a few hundred bucks to get your foot in the door with an agent. And don’t forget to send a reply envelope with postage on it, or you may never hear back from the agency.
Then, be prepared to wait up a while for an answer. If your work is good, an agency will offer you a contract. From there, it’s another 3 month wait (often) for them to find you a publisher. Once you get a publisher, it takes about a year to actually see your book in print.
I hope this helps. If you’re serious about getting published, you can make it happen. It takes time, patience and a lot of luck. And as a note of reality, of all the books published in a given year, only about 13% ever sell more than 1,000 copies. Most (75%) sell fewer than 500. For nonfiction, the numbers (and the odds) are somewhat lower. Contrary to popular belief, most authors don’t get rich.
Jon F. Baxley (Author, Editor, Ghostwriter and Proofreader)
THE SCYTHIAN STONE (eBook only)
THE BLACKGLOOM BOUNTY (eBook and hard cover)
THE REGENTS OF RHUM (coming fall ’07)
(For a FREE copy of The Scythian Stone or a full color, four chapter illustrated demo of The Blackgloom Bounty, email me at FiveStarAuthor@aol.com).
My author blog: http://the-blackgloom-bounty.blogspot.com/
Should an author go in person to a publishing company?
Should I go in person and follow up with an editor that is reading my manuscript. I figured that since I would be in the New York area I would just go in person. To ask upfront, what the editor thought about my work. However, it seems as though my work keeps making its way to awesome editors without a literary agent, and im 16 so its like, should I even waste my time going to agents, and if I should seek out a literary agency, do I go in person?
Its just that people who are brash, and go for broke, things come through for them BUT its like, am I doing a major NO!!!! by going in?
(Also I am a co-author with my sister who will be going as well.)
The thing is, this is our last shot.
We can’t really sit around and wait anymore because my sister is going to College. So basically is it a huge NOOOOO to go in, and will it actually ruin any chance I might have had going for me?
——- alot of grammar mistakes.
It’s much easier to self-publish. This is because there are no quality standards for self-publishing. If you can pay, you can self-publish. For commercial publishing, the quality of your writing means everything. So does the quality of your story. So, it’s very hard to find an agent and publisher, but if you have something that’s well-written and original then you can definitely be published.
1) Research is how. Try writers forums, author websites, writers organization, books, and magazines. Stay away from search engines because that’s were all the sharks wade.
2) Same as above. Particularly, you can find them through sites like agentquery.com and aaronline.org as well as writers forums, websites, and organizations.
3) No. Most publishers and agents are based out of New York, most writers don’t live in New York. Telephone and email makes it easier to communicate these days.
4) Go out and by the writers yearbook, or whatever it’s called. Or visit the two sites I mentioned above. Visit the literary agency’s website and read it’s submission guideliens.
5) It’s up to you. It’s your money. It’s not wise to self-publish a novel, but you’re free to make that choice.
Lastly, Publishing has a 98% rejection rate. It’s this high because most people submitting manuscripts can’t write to save their lives. You need to be able to write like the authors you see on bookstore shelves if you ever want to be published. The standards are high and they don’t accept just anything. Some people get frustrated after all the rejection and resort to self-publishing. That’s their choice, but you also have to see the situation for what it is: the book you’re trying to get published might not be good enough to publish right now. Sometimes it’s inherently flawed and you have to trash it and start on a new project. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. You’ve finished this novel, start writing another one. It might be your 4th or 5th novel that lands you a publishing contract.
Call or write the editor and say that you will be in the city. Is it OK to visit and talk about your manuscript in person? (Be prepared for “No”)
Visiting an agent in person will not increase your chances of acceptance. If your query letter, or your manuscript, is not what they are looking for, you have just wasted a trip.
Visit http://www.agentquery.com and look for agents that handle your genre, and are looking for new clients. Read, and follow, their submission requirements.
Learn how to write a query letter, which is what you send to the agent, first. It’s part explanation as to why your book should be published and part synopsis of your book. You have only that one-page letter to wow the agent, so take the time to make it a good one.
Expect the whole process to take lots of time, and expect many rejections. When you are accepted by an agent, they will send your book to publishers, not you.