We have the occasional “Who Is a Writer” thread here – we have one now, in fact.
But it occurred to me that what we really need is a thread on who has an agent and how the rest of us should go about it. Several people posted in the current writer thread that they have agents, and I know others do as well. So I was wondering what kinds of tips you might have for those of us who are looking for one right about now or might be in the future.
There are books that list agents. There are very probably websites devoted top it. If you are on a writer’s board you can probably ask for suggestions.
I bought a book of agents and started sending my book proposal out to them. None of them would touch it, so I ended up sending my proposal directly to publishers. Now that I’ve had one published, it might be easier to get an agent, but I don’t know yet. If I do, I know who I might go to, based on what I learned while getting my first published.
Unfortunately, it seems like one of those “we can’t hire you without experience/ you can’t get experience until you’re hired” conundrums. The trick is to break into the cycle and become known, and the easiest way to do that is to get information and maybe an introduction from an established writer.
Getting an agent depends heavily on what kind of writing that you do.
If you are interested in non-fiction, you will probably be able to just do a detailed book proposal and send that around to agents. If you have some expertise in the subject or some interesting credentials getting an agent interested is not all that difficult. I’ve gotten three agents that way. (It’s sometimes a difficult relationship.)
These days, most agents want to see a completed novel before they would take a chance on you. So many publishers are refusing to look at unagented manuscripts that it’s almost mandatory to get an agent interested first. One exception: you can sometimes get a genre manuscript read by an editor and use any interest there to grab an agent.
Other fields, like children’s books, will have their own specialized rules that I’m not familiar with.
You have to know the rules for the field you want to get into and deliver exactly what is expected of you in the most professional manner possible. That’s where the books on getting an agent will be the most help. But you still have to have an outstanding product to back that up.
Namely LITERARY MARKET PLACE, available in the reference section of your friendly local library.
I probably should have been clearer. I was in a rush, sorry. 
Anyway, yes, I know there are books of agents and all that. But how do you find out if there is an agent that specializes in a certain area, or who deals more with a given publishing house, or whatnot?
Or does it really not matter? Will an agent who deals in nonfiction handle a book about the War of 1812 just as readily as he will deal with a biography of Def Leppard? (No, I’m not thinking about either of these – they are just what happened to pop into my head.)
Agents generally stick with genres they’re familiar with. If you market science fiction novels, a good agent knows all the editors and what they’re looking for. If you send them a nonfiction book, they won’t have the background and can only guess (much like you would guess). That’s no good for you, and most legitimate agents would decline to handle something outside their area of expertise.
You find agents by going to the LMP or Writer’s Market and seeing who’s listed as representing books similar to the one you’ve written (note the past tense – you need to have something in hand – at least for fiction and probably for your first nonfiction book, too). Then you write a one-page letter briefly summarizing what you have done (not a plot summary, but something like “I’ve written a fantasy novel based in Atlantis”). Also list any relevant credits if you have them.
You can query more than one agent at once, BTW, but you can only send your actual book or proposal to one at a time.
Another way is to go to writer’s conferences. Agents sometimes hang out there, or you can ask a writing who does work similar to your who his agent is.
Agents generally stick with genres they’re familiar with. If you market science fiction novels, a good agent knows all the editors and what they’re looking for. If you send them a nonfiction book, they won’t have the background and can only guess (much like you would guess). That’s no good for you, and most legitimate agents would decline to handle something outside their area of expertise.
You find agents by going to the LMP or Writer’s Market and seeing who’s listed as representing books similar to the one you’ve written (note the past tense – you need to have something in hand – at least for fiction and probably for your first nonfiction book, too). Then you write a one-page letter briefly summarizing what you have done (not a plot summary, but something like “I’ve written a fantasy novel based in Atlantis”). Also list any relevant credits if you have them.
You can query more than one agent at once, BTW, but you can only send your actual book or proposal to one at a time.
Another way is to go to writer’s conferences. Agents sometimes hang out there, or you can ask a writer who does work similar to your who his agent is.
The books that list agents will usually list their specialties as well. All too often, however, it turns out that they “specialize” in fiction and non-fiction. These really aren’t all-inclusive, since children’s books, cookbooks, and sometimes genre novels are not included in this, but you get the idea.
So, yes, unless agents actually list a more specific list of specialties they will indeed handle a book about the War of 1812 as readily as the bio of Def Leppard.
And agents can’t afford to deal only with certain publishing houses. Some will refuse to deal with certain houses, for any number of reasons, but most will go anywhere they think a book will sell.
And that’s the advantage of good agents. They know who’s buying what, and can direct a manuscript there, saving huge amounts of time.
Oh, and I forgot to mention that there are specialized books about agents on the markets now, that do more than LMP or Writer’s Digest.
Here’s one I found in a quick search. I know there are others.
The catch is that not only do you have to find an agent whose specialties match up with your wants and needs, you have to find one who is accepting new clients. Much tougher.
Not THAT tough, these days.
What with the mass firings going on at major book publishing houses, a lot of well-connected former editors are turning themselves into well-connected new literary agents. And they’re ALL looking for material to sell.
I never use agents. Agents are Satan’s Spokesmodels. And useless for someone like me: they work on commission, so will ONLY represent books that are going to make great whacking gobs of cash.
My first agent went senile in the midst of trying to sell my book. My second (and final) agent keeled over dead AFTER submitting to the “A list.” A third agent took me to lunch and asked what I wanted to work on, then whined that he’d “have to make phooooone calls” to see if anyone was interested in my ideas.
Agents. Feh.
There are good agents and bad agents. A good agent can help in two areas:
[list=1]
[li]Knowing what editors are looking for and what they see too much of[/li][li]Negotiating a contract[/li][/list=1]
If the agent knows the markets, the marketing isn’t as hit or miss. A good agent should know that Stupendous Books is overstocked on vampire novels and won’t sent your vampire novel there. At the same time, in a lunch with the editor of Charnal House, the editor told the agent, “You know, we hardly ever get any good vampire novels any more.” If you were doing this, you might try Stupendous Books, and send to Charnal House later, by which time the smart agents have given them all the vampire novels they need.
And no first-time writer should go into negotiations without an agent. The publisher has plenty of experience negotiating contracts; you have none. Guess who’s going to get the better of the deal? A lot of editors, when they buy an unagented novel, strongly suggest you get an agent to handle negotiations. Overall, the extra money and the protection of your rights is worth much more than the agent’s cut.
But a bad agent can certainly harm your career. And even a good agent may not be the right agent for you.
It’s also untrue that agents only represent books that “make whacking great gobs of cash.” They will represent any book they think they can sell. As long as they think they can make money from a sale, they’ll be interested in taking you on. Most will be happy with a few hundred dollars in commission for a first book, since once you’ve sold that one, you should be able to sell more. Agents would love to be able to handle an author who can sell one book a year for a solid advance. A good agent wants to represent your career, not just an individual book.
Eve, I’m beginning to think you’re my female alter-ego. This exact same thing happened to me. The first agent to whom I submitted my manuscript, Oscar Collier, liked it a lot and offered to represent me, even though he was semi-retired. Six months later, he succumbed to a brain cancer.
Thirty rejection letters later, I haven’t been able to find another agent. Just my luck the one guy who liked my stuff died.
Mine was Scott Meredith, Sauron. He loved my Theda Bara bio and submitted it to his A-list of publishers—then I pick up the Times and see his obit. Of course, since the book was already “in play,” no other agent would touch it—so I wound up selling it myself (to a very nice but very small house).
I’ve settled down with a nice University Press now. If I can do a book with them every five years so so, I’ll be quite happy.
Eve and Sauron are alter egos? Interesting…
Maybe someone with a better grasp of theology can make sense of this.
Well, any self-respecting misogynist knows that women are the root of all evil. I’m just the natural extension of the original Eve(il).
Well, David B, the way I found my agent isn’t going to help you in the least. But since you asked how we writers found our agents, here goes…
A friend of mine from college worked real hard and got a few of her works published, sans agent. She helped me polish my manuscript a bit and then took it with her to a Christian Writers’ convention. She sort-of casually shopped it around, on her own, to whoever would listen. Eventually an agent saw my manuscript, liked it, gave me a call, and the rest is soon-to-be-written history. YMMV.
I’ve been lucky with my two agents (none has died or gone insane, at least). I have a pretty good relationship with my current one and since I live in the back country of Colorado and she lives in the City, she is an absolute necessity for me unless I want to do a lot more non-writing work than I do (which I don’t).
I had been with another agent whom I had been put in touch with by one of my publishers’ secretaries. I had a proven track record so he readily agreed to take me on.
But while he was nice enough, he wasn’t as wide ranging as I needed for my somewhat eclectic writing topics (unlike a number of people who write on this board, I do not specialize. I write anything and everything that I can make a buck on - I guess I’m the writers’ equivalent to a whore).
After a couple of years, my original agent said that he was not comfortable trying to agent my wide range of writing activities and recommended my current one whom he said was just starting out and he said while she did not have the contacts he did, she would probably hustle a bit harder than he would in unknown fields. He and I still exchange emails and he keeps me posted on his grandkids.
My current one doesn’t make a great deal on each sale, but since I am a proven commodity and I am an obsessive writer, my stuff does sell pretty regularly. Hopefully she feels that the volume makes up for the (ready for the pun?) lack of volumes. (Sorry about that)
My partner and I have sold 13 books without an agent but that’s in the Australian/NZ market. These markets are so small that I can’t see giving 15% to someone to do something I can do for myself thankyouverymuch. We’ve kinda got an agent but I’d only involve her if it were an overseas market and I was unable to do the contract myself.
US markets are a different kettle of fish and one day when I work up some energy I’m going to put some energy into finding an agent. While it’s possible to keep in touch in our market with who is buying and selling what, it’s less do-able in the US. It’s a matter of finding addresses and writing query letters until you’re lucky enough to find someone interested. If you know any published writers who use an agent, it’s always worth asking them if they will ask their agent to look at your stuff.
I see someone has linked to speculations and the rumour mill. that’s a great site for keeping in touch with who is OK and who is less than stellar.
The most important thing to remember with agents is that money flows TO the writer, not the other way round. You should never pay an agent a retainer or anything until they make the sale. They make their money from selling the books, not from the writer prior to sale.