Get a Literary Agent: The Complete Guide to Securing Representation for Your Work

Cincinnati, Ohio

For Bre

Introduction

Chapter One:
The Skinny on Agents (and Why You Want One)

Chapter Two:
Before You Pitch

Chapter Three:
Research Reps and Create Your List

Chapter Four:
The Submission Process: What to Expect at a Glance

Chapter Five:
Getting an Agent for Your Self-Published Book

Chapter Six:
The All-Important Query Letter

Chapter Seven:
Query Letter Examples

Chapter Eight:
Query Letter FAQs

Chapter Nine:
Starting Your First Chapter Right

Chapter Ten:
Writing the Synopsis

Chapter Eleven:
Nonfiction Intensive: Book Proposals

Chapter Twelve:
Nonfiction Intensive: Platform and Marketing

Chapter Thirteen:
Once You Submit

Chapter Fourteen:
Working with an Agent

Chapter Fifteen:
Final Advice from Agents

Conclusion

Glossary of Publishing Terms

Glossary of Genres and Category Definitions

Further Resources

The AAR Canon of Ethics

When I joined Writer’s Digest a decade ago and began to meet aspiring authors in person, many would walk up to me and ask the same question: “How do I get a literary agent?” Ten years later, as I shake hands with new writers at conferences, I still get asked the same question.

Getting an agent to sign you and sell your books is a challenging task. Who are the best ones to contact? What are the ins and outs and best practices for querying agents? How do you give your book the best chance of being read and considered?

These types of questions are the reason I wrote this book. I wanted to give writers a comprehensive resource to address the many frequently asked questions that arise during the journey to find a literary agent. The goal was to create a guide that would offer the advice of numerous knowledgeable agents as well as provide examples of submission materials that speak to
all
book writers, regardless of category or genre.

The Internet is, unfortunately, a breeding ground for misinformation and half-truths on any subject—including how to query and sign with an agent. Many frustrated writers say that an agent won’t represent you before you’ve had a book published, but you can’t sell a book without an agent—thus creating a catch-22. It’s just not true—and it’s exactly the type of myth I want to dispel so writers can give themselves the best chance going forward.

In fact, having the best chance at writing and publishing success all comes down to
educating yourself—
about the craft of writing, professionalism and submissions, research and targeting, genres and book categories, individual agents and their quirks, and so on. The more you learn, the better your chances of finding an agent and publishing a book.

So, without further ado, let’s help you find a literary agent as soon as possible.

If you’re reading this, chances are you’ve either written a book or are in the middle of writing one. And chances are, at some point, you’ve heard a friend or peer explain that you should get a literary agent. But let’s slow down for a moment. What is an agent? What does she do? What role does she play in your career? What value does she bring to the table? (Approximately 85 percent of agents are women, so I’ll use the pronoun
she
in this book. But male agents certainly do exist and perform very well at their jobs.)

In short, a literary agent represents you in an effort to sell your book-length works to publishers. She serves as a conduit for getting your work to specific editors who are interested in buying the types of books you write. In other words, the agent’s foremost responsibility is to get your work into the hands of the specific decision-making persons who can acquire the project and enact a deal for money. Agents are
connectors
—bridging the wide chasm between writers and editors in an effort to bring books to life.

Besides having the ability to sell books, agents also protect your interests, guide your career, and handle many of the business responsibilities that go along with selling manuscripts. For her efforts, your agent gets a small percentage of all monies you make off a project.

At one point or another, you’ve probably asked yourself the following questions:
Do I really need an agent? Can I just go it alone and keep the entire payment for my book?
The answers depend on the type of book you’re writing or have written.

If you’re writing nonfiction, the decision to get an agent should rest on whether your book has any
limitations
. Perhaps you’re writing a book about present-day Native American culture in Oklahoma. Such a book has limitations. It’s about a niche topic (Native American culture), and it also has a regional focus (in this case, Oklahoma). It could very well be a masterful book, but because of these two distinct limitations, the title will likely sell fewer than 7,500 copies. The book is small in both scope and sales potential. This is exactly the type of nonfiction book you
don’t
need an agent for. Skip the agent, and go straight to an academic or small publisher for a deal. In fact, even if you wanted agent representation, it’s not likely that an agent would actually sign you, because her financial compensation would be so meager. If a small publisher offers you $1,500 up front for the book, the agent’s share (at 15 percent) is $225. That isn’t a big incentive for her to get involved.

On the flip side, if you’re writing a nonfiction book that has
no
significant limitations, then I believe you should seek an agent who can get you the best deal with a quality publisher. Plenty of books have mainstream, commercial appeal with the potential to reach many different audiences. Examples of this could be anything from cookbooks, memoir, and how-to titles to a diet book called
How to Lose 10 Pounds in 10 Weeks
. Other books are niche titles and have smaller, more focused target audiences—such as a guidebook on the best restaurants in San Francisco.

This same line of thinking goes for novels. If you’re writing a book that’s incredibly niche—say, a
science fiction–erotica hybrid
—then you can likely approach a publisher on your own for a small, solid deal. But if the book has any kind of mainstream potential, it’s best to look for an agent.

To answer this, I turn to literary agent Mollie Glick of Foundry Literary + Media. She addressed this question at a writers conference once and explained that, while agents can bring many elements to a writer-agent relationship—such as hands-on editing and career guidance—their true value is in the three key things they bring to the table that writers can rarely do themselves.

1. AN AGENT DEVELOPS CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS WITH EDITORS AND KNOWS THE BEST POTENTIAL PUBLISHERS FOR YOUR WORK.
   An agent’s primary job is to know which editors at which publishing houses are seeking which categories of material. Not only will a good agent know that XYZ Editor acquires literary fiction, but she’ll know that XYZ Editor is currently calling for literary fiction set in Asia with a female protagonist. A good agent is aware of these little-known “likes” and is sensitive to trend changes that affect editor preferences on a month-by-month basis. This is important because publishing is a very relationship-based industry.
   

   An agent will follow the tastes and wants of editors all over the country. She does this so that when an excellent manuscript lands on her desk, she knows precisely where to send it. An agent won’t simply search online for “publishing houses seeking mystery novels” like a writer would. She already knows which editors are seeking mysteries and at what imprints.
   

   These relationships are so valuable because many of the editors at large houses are closed to unsolicited submissions from writers—meaning they do not invite amateur writers they don’t know to contact them directly. If you want to pitch editors at Penguin Random House or Knopf, your work must be submitted through an agent. Editors count on agents to act as gatekeepers who sift through the slush piles to find the gems that truly deserve consideration for publication. All editors I know are drastically overworked and need help filtering through the majority of inappropriate submissions to focus on the best targeted and most promising. This is where agents come in—
   they get your book read
   .
   

   Without an agent, a writer can pitch directly to a small publishing house and, often, a midsize house. But can this same writer pitch to Candlewick or HarperCollins or Simon & Schuster? No. If you skip the agent, you close yourself off to most of the biggest potential markets. And if you do pitch to a midsize publishing house that takes queries directly from writers, no doubt your submission would get more attention if it came from an agent. Agented novels and proposals carry the weight of having already been vetted and polished by a trustworthy professional.
   

2. AN AGENT IS VERY FAMILIAR WITH PUBLISHING CONTRACTS AND FIGHTS TO GET YOU THE BEST DEAL POSSIBLE.
   Here’s some bad news: Publishing house contracts are not written with the writer’s benefit in mind. The first offer you see will not be impressive. That’s just the nature of the beast; it’s a process of negotiation. You’ll seek a lot, they’ll offer a little, and a good agent will help both parties meet in the middle.
   

   An agent reviews and negotiates contracts every week. She’s familiar with legal jargon and boilerplate deals, and with which royalty structures will get you the most money. In fact, every line of a contract is a concern to her. If a contractual clause is bad, she fights to make it okay. If it’s okay, she fights to make it good. If it’s good, she fights to make it great. A capable agent will fight on nearly every point—because it’s in both of your best interests. The more she fights, the more her client (i.e., you) makes. And the more her client makes, the greater the sum she earns off her 15 percent commission.
   

   No one is more familiar with book contracts than an agent, and no one will battle harder for you. On a related note, your agent is the one who will notify the publisher’s accounting department if your payment is late and have them process the check. She’s the one who makes sure that your foreign rights and excerpt payments are issued, for instance.
   

3. AN AGENT CAN SERVE AS A BUFFER BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR EDITOR—ACTING AS A “BAD COP” WHEN THE NEED ARISES.
   Let’s say your editor sends you the first version of your book’s cover design and explains how much everyone at the publishing house loves it. But here’s the problem: You think it stinks to high heaven. If you tell the editor as much, even in a nice way, the situation can become awkward. So what’s a writer to do? Use bad-cop agent, that’s what.
   

   An editor can get mad at your agent, but he should never be mad at you. Because your editor is the foremost champion of your book to other personnel at the publishing house, it’s imperative that your relationship with him remains positive.