Literary Agents
To accelerate the progress of your career as writer, finding literary agents can help you achieve this goal. Every writer dreams to publish their own book. To receive compliments from readers is a sign that you have an audience and your book sells. Nowadays, several aspiring writers want to produce their own books. However, they have found that producing it is not an easy task.
The job of an agent is to respond to the needs of writers and they are the ones who sell what you write. No matter what your book is all about, whether it is a children’s book, for poetry, science, history or another genre it will surely sell.
To make sure that people will love your book and will never think twice to buy it, you must become a good writer. Most writers’ main intention is not just to produce books for them to gain money but to fulfill certain dreams. To share ideas, opinions and solving other peoples’ problem are the primarily reasons that must be given emphasis when writing a book. There are billions of people in the world and possibly, one of them will become your readers. These men and women are seeking books wherein they can learn and explore.
Furthermore, if it is your ambition to publish a book you must accept the good service of the literary agents. With these people your job will be easier. You do not need to worry about where to go for printing and whom to call for book launching because that will be their job. Most of them have strong connections in the world of business so stay calm and think of making interesting books for your future success.
Writing everyday is a good way to improve your writing techniques. You must think out of the box and never limit yourself from negative possibilities. Always stay positive and ensure to gain positive feedback from all your readers. More people say that a good writer always produces good books. So your only way to be famous is becoming a good writer who aims to inspire people.
Write your own story, give your own world view and share it to lots of book worms out there. Bear in mind that life is simple so do not make it complicated. Express yourself through your books so that people may look up to you. Thus, it is about time for you to partner one of the best literary agents today.
Research. Find out who some of their clients are and then check out their book sales. What publishers do they have an in with? What are their connections to the publishing community?
Here are some good sites that I personally recommend for finding agents. This is where I searched when I was looking for someone to represent my novel, Dream Saver.
http://www.writers.net/agents.html
http://www.author-network.com/agents.html
http://www.books.bc.ca/literaryagents.php
http://www.ebookcrossroads.com/agents.html
http://www.wga.org/agency/agencylist.asp#top
When searching for an agent, always check to make sure that they represent books in the genre you’ve written. Always follow their submission guidelines exactly and only use the format they ask for. Also, before you send your manuscript, make certain it is free from errors in spelling, punctuation, and grammar (this is very important because if an agents sees too many errors he or she will not even consider your work). You’ll also need to have a query letter ready because all agents ask for a query letter and/or a synopsis.
If you need help writing a query letter, check out this site. It’s really helpful!
http://www.poewar.com/how-to-write-a-query-letter/
As for experience, it’s always good when you can include anything that would better qualify you for a job post. It’s a similar story in the publishing world. When you send a query letter, you’re competing against thousands of other authors. However, an agent will only accept one or two manuscripts from all those thousands. Anything you can add in your query letter that will make you shine in the agent’s eyes is helpful.
I hope some of this information was helpful! Good luck finding an agent!
I can tell you from experience that finding a quality agency is time consuming, irritating and frustrating. First, don’t waste time or money on books listing agents. Run a search on Google instead. All major agencies worth their salt have a web presence now.
Once you find some agencies that seem to handle your type of manuscript AND have published books to prove it, send them a knockout query letter (sample upon email request). If you have previously published material, mention that. It helps. Make sure you query the agent that seems most likely to read your genre. Some agencies have a dozen agents, but only one may handle fantasy (for example).
Now, here’s a piece of advice you can take or leave. It’s the accepted norm that a new author approaches only ONE agency at a time. Multiple submissions are still frowned upon. I held to that tradition and it took eight months to hit the jackpot–and that was with a book already in hardcover with glowing reviews in the national media!
The good news is, with email queries, you don’t have to wait 3 months to hear back from someone. Typically, you’ll get a ‘no thanks’ in about ten working days. Then you can move on to the next prospect.
Also, and this was HUGE in my efforts: have an eBook version of your manuscript uploaded and ready to send in email as soon as someone says, “Please send it.” Don’t send out printed manuscripts if you can avoid it. Look for agency listings that say, “Accepts email queries.” Trust me, you’ll save months and lots of stamps using email. Make sure the agency accepts electronic submissions as well. Some websites say so, most do not. If you’re asked to submit a partial, inquire if it’s okay to send your partial as an attached file (preferably in Word or Adobe) instead of hard copies. Again, most agencies now will do that, even if they don’t particularly like email. Why? It speeds up their processing.
Three days after sending any files, follow up to make SURE the agency got the email. Many email filters are set up to block files larger than an ordinary letter would be. Follow up is absolutely vital when querying online because agents get a ton of email and if you don’t remind them to go read yours, you’re dead in the water.
Job one is persistence. Big agencies are far more flexible because they have more profit centers, more contacts, and more junior agents to handle new authors.
Okay, that’s the gist of my advice. Hopefully it will serve all of you well. Good luck with your books. See you at the movies!
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 four chapter illustrated demo of The Blackgloom Bounty, email me at FiveStarAuthor@aol.com).
My author blog: http://the-blackgloom-bounty.blogspot.com/
My Shelfari Shelf: http://www.shelfari.com/FiveStarAuthor/shelf
There are many ways of finding the infomation you want, and I have included the links you will need to help you. Of course, in addition to this, you can also use the resources at your local library, they are only too happy to help you with your searches and queries.
http://www.google.com
http://www.wikipedia.org/
http://uk.search.yahoo.com/web
http://findarticles.com/
http://vos.ucsb.edu/index.asp
http://www.aresearchguide.com/
http://www.geocities.com/athens/troy/886…
http://www.studentresearcher.com/search/…
http://www.chacha.com/
That is why it is always wise to send in only a copy and not the original format of one’s manuscript.
Literary agents or publishers could be SUED if they steal anyone’s work. That is one consolation for you. It is very wise, too, to get a copyright just in case that happens.
Publishing is synonymous to getting that copyright for protecting your book which is why it is highly important to publish it.
You may probably decide which way you want to go if you have exhausted all options. perhaps its best still if you happen to have a publishing plan mapped out and then go from there.
In the meantime, I’ll give you something to peruse while you are at it. Let me know if you have questions. 🙂
My dear you have been given a ton of wrong information today. I don’t know who your first three answerers are, but they have misled you terribly.
First of all to the answerer directly above me. A query and a submission are the same thing. It is really bad when you don’t know the correct answer and you just guess at it or make stuff up. It is wrong to mislead people.
The correct answer. ONLY if the literary agents who you are interested in querying STATE in their submission guidelines that “multiple submissions are accepted” can you send a submission to more than one at a time.
I would never send to more than two at a time, and then only if both state multiple submissions are accepted. It is industry standard that you afford each of them the courtesy of letting them know you have submitted elsewhere at the same time. You don’t have to identify the other agent, just so they both know you have sent a query out twice.
To send to a “bunch of agents at once” is completely unprofessional and amateur and a pretty sure way of getting yourself a very nasty reputation in the industry.
The process is a slow one. There is nothing you can do about that. These agents receive thousands of submissions a week – especially with all the misinformation going on here and at other forums.
This is the process in a nutshell.
1) You select one or two agents who are currently reading in your genre. Take a look at who they represent – are you familiar with any of the books they have sold? That tells you their track record. Use either Writers Marketplace which you can buy anywhere for 30 bucks or Literary Marketplace at a library’s research section. You can buy one, but it costs 300 bucks a year. Libraries have them in the research section to use there but not check out.
2) You investigate the agent. Go to Preditors and Editors, Absolute Write Water Cooler’s Bewares and Background Checks, Writers Weekly.com and Writers Wall among others and look for complaints against that agent. If there are any, move on. All of those sites are free to use and you can write to the people who run them if you are in doubt. They will all write back if they have any info you should know.
3) If the agent checks out, read their submission requirements entirely and follow them to the letter. That usually means a query letter and perhaps a synopsis of a certain length. NEVER SEND A MANUSCRIPT TO ANYONE UNLESS YOU ARE ASKED TO!!!!!!! The submission requirements spell that all out. If you are sending out two submissions, state that in your query letter. It is rude for an agent to get excited about a manuscript not knowing it is in someone else’s hands, too.
4) If you get a “bite”, you will be asked to submit a full or partial manuscript along with a book proposal. A book proposal is a very specific document. There are several books out there telling you how to write a good one. If you are smart, you have already had your book edited and your editor will assist with the proposal. A good editor knows how to write a great proposal. Your proposal is the number one selling tool for your book. It is what an agent uses to sell your work to a publisher.
5) If the agent likes what they see, they will sign you. However that is just the beginning of your journey. That agent now has to shop that book around and try to sell it. It could take another year or more to get the book actually sold.
There are no shortcuts. Expect a lot of rejection letters. Gone with the Wind got over 50. James Patterson got over 20. Most writers got stacks of them before they sold a book. And don’t be surprised if the agent eventually gives up trying to sell your book and “fires you”. Happens all the time. Then you start over looking for another agent.
I find it appalling that people post incorrect information here. I don’t know where they get their information or what their track record is, but the sad part is often a person with genuine information misses the question and the bad information goes out. I am here to tell you this is the proper way to do it. I don’t know why people feel they have to act like they know what they are talking about when they do not. Pax – C
Another thing to try: Look on the web sites for writers’ conferences for a list of the conference presenters. Some of these will be agents, and agents who attend conferences are generally agents who are willing to consider new clients.
Even better: Go to some conferences near you and sign up for a pitch session with those agents. You might land an agent that way, but even if not, agents will at least give you pointers in presenting your book in the most compelling way.
YES, most agents will accept manuscripts written by foreign authors, and NO, you do not have to fly anywhere to sign anything (fax machines and snail mail work just fine for that).
There are plenty of reputable agents who take email queries and submissions and have fax machines for sending and receiving documents, and the only problem with foreign authors that I know of are tax issues (but agents are used to this so it’s not a big deal at all).
Agentquery.com is a good resource. Seach by genre, read their bio, visit their webpage, pick those that accept email, and follow their guidelines. If you want to let them know you reside in a foriegn country, you can do tht in the query letter. So long as your manuscript is good, that is really all that matters.
Get a copy of the Writers and Artists yearbook- it has a comprehensive list of agents and publishers
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Writers-Artists-Yearbook-Black-Publishers/dp/1408111276
Literary Agents?
Does anyone know of any reliable literary agents? I never know who to chose in The Literary Agents Market book.
Is it okay to send my manuscript out to multiple literary agents at the same time?
I’ve heard you’re only supposed to concentrate on one literary agent at a time, but that seems like it would drag the process out longer than necessary. Wouldn’t it be smarter to send it to a bunch of agents at once?
I’ve heard you’re only supposed to concentrate on one literary agent at a time, but that seems like it would drag the process out longer than necessary. Wouldn’t it be smarter to send a manuscript to a bunch of agents at once?
OR…should I forget about the manuscript, and just send out a bunch of Query Letters to various agents instead?
literary agents?
I live in Los Angeles and I want to know where to find literary agents? How can I contatct them and to get one do I have to have an experience?
Who are the best children’s novel literary agents and how can I contact them?
I have recently completed a manuscript and I’m looking for literary agents to send it to for evaluation. The book I wrote is for the same age range as the Harry Potter series was for. So I am assuming this would be the young adult novel category. I would like to know who the best literary agents of this genre are and how I could contact and send my manuscript to them. Somewhere I could see a listing would be great, and any other help given.
About literary agents in one country representing an author in another country?
Is it possible for a literary agent in the US, HK, Canada or Australia to represent an author in another country say, the Philippines? If the book is about the Philippines, would you advice me to look for literary agents here or out of the country? As I cannot find an association of literary agents or author’s representatives here in the Philippines. Thank you for the time and assistance.
I already checked writer’s digest and some websites BUT they did not specify any asociation for literary agents here in the Philippines.
Literary agents?
How do we know if literary agents really know what they are doing?
Are they really producing good books?
A Q for literary agents or people who know about them?
I wanted to know if literary agents accept manuscripts from outside their home country. Please tell me a few names if you know them (those who accept online submissions).
Also, would it be necessary for me to fly off to their place to sign the contract?
Is it any way likely that literary agents or publishers would steal your work?
Just curious if well recognized literary agents or publishers would ever consider stealing your work? Say, if they sent back your manuscript with a reject slip…would you think that there would be any way that they would go behind your back and try to publish your work anyways?
Can literary agents find work for illustrators?
I know agencies like lemonade and Shannon associates work for illustrators, but i want to know if, in addition, literary agents can find work for illustrators.
Where can I find a list of literary agents?
I need a literary agent to represent my young adult novel. I need more lists of literary agents that represent young adult. I really appreciate the help. Thanks in advance!