How to Get Your Women's Fiction Novel In Front of an Agent

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Copy of Writer's Market yearly book if you have no computer access
Computer with Internet service
Paper (Stay away from anything too fancy)
Envelopes

Research

Step 1

Search for agent information

So if you think writing "The End" is the end of your job as a writer, think again. To get the manuscript sold you need to research which agents are interested in women's fiction. This is a genre that is sometimes hard to define as women's fiction can also be described as commercial or mainstream. These are terms agents use to describe what areas they are interested in representing. I recommend AgentQuery and Google as your first places to start but if you lack computer access, I suggest purchasing a copy of the Writer's Market book which you can find online at Amazon.

* AgentQuery.com will allow you to breakdown the genres and filter out those agents that represent women's fiction. Many of the entries will tell you where they are located, if the have a website and how they want to be queried.

* Jot down those names of agents or agencies that show an interest in women's fiction and if they have a link to a website, check it out. Sometimes information isn't as current at AgentQuery as it is at an agencies own website.

* If the website has specific instructions on what they would like to see first - query letter only, query letter and synopsis and whether they want email or snail mail follow those directions.

* Google the agencies name or agents name and just see what comes up. Even if you find a website you can still find interviews or conferences that the agent you are interested in has done online. It's just a great way to find that little tidbit that might let you know whether this agent is worth your time or not.

* I highly recommend a subscription to Publishers Marketplace. For a yearly subscription a writer can find many deals that are happening right now and who is at the top of selling women's fiction.
Step 2

If you have any information that is on a personal level, like you met and spoke briefly at a writer's conference, that would be a good way to kick off your letter. Perhaps you discovered that the agent you are querying has a blog and you've been reading it faithfully before deciding to query--you should briefly mention it to the agent. Or perhaps you've read several of the books that this agent represents and enjoyed them. Let them know it. Don't go overboard on flattery or assume that the agent will remember you if the two of you bumped into each other just give a little nod that you know who you are querying.
Step 3

Now that you know whom you are sending a query to, it’s time to write the hook. This is something that will get you noticed and out of the slush pile. If you can sum up your manuscript in one or two sentences go with that. Stay away from rhetorical questions, as it’s been said that many agents frown on that or see it as being a hallmark of a writer that is new to the craft. Think of sentences that you find on the inside flap of an already published book. It’s snappy and to the point. Writing this can take some time as it’s hard to cut a 300 to 400 page manuscript down into one or two sentences. After the hook, let the agent know the following:

* Word count. Round to nearest thousand.
* What current books are similar to yours? This doesn’t mean compare it to a great classic or state that it’s the next Da Vinci Code. Sell yourselves but don't be arrogant. Instead tell them what books you see yours sitting next to on the bookshelf, or perhaps it’s a female version of a book written by a male or vice versa. There are women fiction books written by men and have a male main character.
Step 4

Give one to two short paragraphs that elaborate on the sentence you used up above. Tell the agent in the same tone or voice as your manuscript what your story is all about. Meaning, if your story is somber and serious, don’t make your letter sound perky or humorous. Or if your story has comedy tones in it, use the same sharp tongue and wit in these two paragraphs.
Step 5

Sign it and send it out

End your letter with any writing credentials you may have or writing groups you may belong to. Here to you need to not go over board. If your manuscript has won the local writers talent roundup, you might mention it, briefly. While it was probably exciting to win that contest, just remember these agents have seen it and heard it all, stick to only those awards and achievements that are big. If you don’t have any writing credentials, don’t sweat it and skip it. Don’t state that you don’t have any credentials, just let it go.
* Your query should be one page. It’s hard, and that is why every word you use needs to be exact and precise. In only two or three short paragraphs you have to give the agent a feel for your manuscript and make the best use of their time. Agents receive hundreds of queries a week.

* Close your letter by stating that you hope that they will be interested in reading the completed manuscript and sign your name.

Comments

esmy said

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on 10/5/2008 Dear friend,
Your comments are interesting but that doesn't mean that the agent is going to contact you or even answer your letter, he receives hundreds of others, so unless you are introduced in his office by some friend, you should expect simply a miracle for him to contact you. What they do very often is "plagia", they pretend they are not interested in your script, fabricate a similar one with a slight change and send it back to you, so good luck! I do not mean to be odd, but maybe people should start by publishing their book via intranet first, why not and then publish their own book, using an agent is losing a lot of money, the distributor takes at least 60% interest for distributing your book and if you get a 10% its already that, important authors can get 15% and very famous authors bargain and sell their manuscript for very important amounts to be paid by cash in advance.
Esmy