Once you get your short list of agents, and you have all of your literary ducks in a row … it will serve you well to know how to approach these folks. Here are some more tips.
- Do not send your manuscript! Send a one page letter describing your project and why you are the person to write it, plus your proposal (non-fiction only) or a few sample chapters of your manuscript (fiction.) Offer to send the rest right away if they are interested. Make sure everything is spell-checked, double spaced, with correct margins, etc.
- Hand pick the agents you submit to. DO NOT SEND MASS MAILINGS TO AGENTS. It won’t work, and is a waste of time and mo.ney. Instead, research who to approach and pick the 5, 10, 20 or so who actually sell your type of work. Agents stick to niches themselves, and one way to find that niche is in various resource guides like Writer’s Market, the LMP (Literary Market Place … in all big libraries), or the Writer’s Digest 2002 Guide to Literary Agents. (I have several other techniques I share in my Self Help Author’s Crash Course, which is on sale at the moment. See below.)
- Make your letter great. Your pitch will be placed in a pile with the other cold submissions that arrived that day (maybe 25 –50) and an assistant will thumb through them, spending about 10 seconds on each one. This means if you have a personal contact, you mention it in the first sentence. Trim your description of your book into a meaty, mouth-watering paragraph. Add a bit on why you are the person to write it. And BE SURE to let them know you hand picked them, out of all the agents out there, because of the great work they’ve done for authors X, Y and Z. In fact, you predict they will have similar success with your property, as they did with Book X they just sold to Q Publisher, etc. In other words, make it personal, a little witty, and smart
- Don’t use old contact info … and call to see that the agent you’re contacting is still at the address you have before you send anything
- Don’t ever pay an agent to evaluate your book. This is not how standard agents work, and is illegal.
- Give the agent one month to evaluate your work. Then follow up by p.hone or email. Many will tell you how they like to be contacted in guides such as The Writer’s Market and those listed above. Continue to follow up, until such actions are ridiculous. You’ll probably get some kind of response, especially if you’re letter is great
- Follow up and ask for referrals. If you’re lucky, you’ll get the intended agent on the phone. They may seem interested, but just won’t commit. (A standard line is “I’m not taking on any new clients right now.”) So ask if they know any agents they might recommend, or someone who is expanding their operation. Then send a thank you note if their info has been helpful. Agenting is a small world, and many people stay in it for life. They’ll remember when you reappear at their door years later. And this time it may open
- Be persistent. You may have to go through several lists of hand-picked agents, before you get the bite you need.
- Work your personal connections. Be exhaustive, thinking of anyone you know who might connect you with other agents, or even authors. Most authors will want to see the project you’re pitching, and may not feel comfortable sharing their contact with you… but many may.
By the way, have you got a literary project that’s just sitting on the shelf? Do you long to take a little time off just to reconnect to your project. Sounds like a trip to our Writer’s Spa in Taos, NM, in July might just do the trick.
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