Any Advice on Writing a Cover Letter to a Literary Agent?

Factual Questions
1

I’ve read several guides and they offer conflicting advice. For example:

-Some say “only send a letter briefly describing your work and asking permission to send it” while others say “enclose at least two or three chapters of the work”

-Some say “compare yourself to successful authors you’ve been compared to” (in my case Lewis Grizzard, David Sedaris and Augusten Burroughs, though personally I think the resemblances are relatively superficial) while others say “DON’T do this”

-Some say “send this e-mail, not hardcopy” while others say “hardcopy, not e-mail”

I’d be curious to read what Dopers who have some experience in publishing would say to these.

PS- This may be more appropriate for IMHO but I’ll let a mod decide.

2

It depends on what you’re doing and whether it’s fiction or nonfiction. There’s also a difference between a query and a proposal. And different agents might have different preferences.

A query is a letter describing the work and giving some relevant background. The goal here is to have the agent ask for a proposal.

A proposal is an outline/synopsis (they are slightly different) and sample chapters, usually three. One reason to query is to ask what the agent prefers.

I wouldn’t compare yourself to another author – at best, the agent isn’t going to care; at worst, you come off as arrogant. Let the agent read the work and make a determination.

Most agents prefer snail mail (they don’t want to print out your manuscript on their nickel to read it), but some may prefer e-mail. Ask, or see what the agent says. Ultimately, there is a lot of variation.

Assuming it’s fiction, I’d send a query, saying you’ve finished a book about X (do not summarize the plot just yet) and are looking for representation. If you have credits, put them there. Ask what the agent wants to see, and send him that.

You could include an outline/synopsis* and sample chapters are part of the process; it may even be an advantage (i.e., the agent might think, I should just tell this guy no, but, what the heck, let’s take a look at things).

Don’t send it e-mail unless the agent specifically asks for it this way.

*Outline – around 20-25 pages, describing what’s happening chapter by chapter.
Synopsis – general overview of the book, maybe about 15 pages.

3

Follow RealityChuck’s advice. A few other points:

It’s okay to make comparisons that help to peg the genre of your work. Saying “I write Southwestern mysteries with strong Native American connection, similar to what Tony Hillerman and James Doss write” gives the agent an immediate idea of whether your work fits his portfolio. Saying “I write like Tony Hillerman” sounds arrogant.

Rule #1 is to figure out what the agent wants and supply it. Most good literary agents have a Web site and/or listings in guides like Writer’s Market. If their site says they prefer hard copy, don’t send an email. If they have a listing saying they want writing samples only, don’t send an 800-page manuscript.

Fiction and nonfiction are two very different worlds. This is a bit of an overgeneralization, but for the most part fiction is written first and then sold. Nonfiction is sold first and then written. You’ll send a query with a sample chapter or two for nonfiction. For fiction, you’ll send the whole manuscript.

4

And if you mean to write humorous essays of the type that Grizzard, et al. write, you need to include samples of your writing. Technically these are considered non-fiction rather than fiction but agents definitely will want to see your work. You can’t describe humor. Agents will want to judge it for themselves.

5

My answer depends: are you convinced that an agent is necessary?

6

Well, I don’t want to self publish, and the vast majority of publishers I’ve looked up either don’t accept unsolicited manuscripts or give them very low priority. Supposedly the publishing world has changed quite a bit in the past decade or two and it’s very rare to get something published by sending it directly to the publisher.

Also, I don’t have a very impressive resume- most of my printed work (not counting the web) is rather dry academic articles (with this being the only crossover between academia and mainstream). I would describe what I’m wanting to publish as “creative nonfiction”- it’s all based on actual people and actual events, sometimes almost exactly and sometimes with embellishment or contraction or whatever- essentially a memoir.

7

What you need is a source that tells you what the agent himself wants to receive. For instance some agents want an outline with a sample chapter, some agents want a brief synopsis and chapter 1, some agents want just a query.

My advice is:

  1. Target agents. If you read or have read a book that impressed you, try to find out who the agent was. A lot of writers thank their agents in the acknowledgments. Other than that, Jeff Herman used to publish a book annually (or so) that listed agents, which included lists of their clients and it could be cross-referenced. There are a couple of online sources, including the Publisher’s Weekly database if you happen to have a subscription to PW.

The purpose of this is to get a short list of agents you think would be worthy to represent what you write, or in other words agents who could sell what you write.

  1. Once you have the names, check out their websites. Most agents are very clear about what they would like to receive. And you can use this information to play to your strengths.

Mostly agents and publishers are looking for three things: A good platform, good writing, good story. Not necessarily, but largely, in that order. If your strengths are a good platform, you can cover that in a query letter. (By platform I mean something on which the publisher can launch your marketing campaign. If you are a former president, that is a pretty good platform and you can probably get an agent to represent you with an email. Ditto if you are a health guru who has invented a fast, easy way to lose weight and keep it off.)

If your strength is a good plot, that too can be presented in about a paragraph of your cover letter.

If, however, your strength is your elegant writing style, you will really want to look for an agent who asks for (or at least accepts) a good hunk of writing. In other words those agents who want you to send only a cover letter and one-page outline are right out.

  1. Now you have a fairly short list of agents. Send them what they want, in the way that they want it (some agents don’t want email queries and some prefer them, etc.). Send whatever you’ve got to all of them at once, it’s perfectly okay at this point because some of them won’t get back to you for six months and others won’t ever and if you had to wait around until you heard back you’d never get anything published.

To be more specific, in Sampiro’s case I would recommend a short letter outlining the whole work–call it, say, a memoir written as a series of interrelated essays–and attach an outline with the names of each chapter (or essay) and one whole chapter (or essay).

I have heard of agents who want to hear a marketing plan along with any other pitch. At any rate it’s not going to hurt to tell them you’ve got a good start on your prospective audience. I’m not sure how you’d phrase that but, hey, you da wordsmith.