How to Get a Literary Agent

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

A great idea for a book
Good spelling and punctuation skills
Access to a directory of literary agents
If you're writing nonfiction, you'll need relevant credentials on your topic
The ability to learn from your mistakes
A dose of perseverance

Step 1

Have a great idea. No kidding, right? But most people who don't get representation don't have a good idea. Don't try to write what's on the shelves today - that's already old news in the publishing industry. To find out what we want, look at the general trends in society - read magazines and newspapers.
Step 2

Be qualified on your topic. Don't write about "how to earn a million bucks in 90 days" if you haven't done it. Don't write about how you channel the Archangels. Don't write a "how to have a happy marriage" book if you're a happily married person without a PhD, huge speaking or media empire - but with five ex spouses!
Step 3

Write the most amazing query letter ever. That means three things to agents: First, your idea is clearly stated. Agents spend about 15 seconds per query deciding Yes or No. Grab us with the first killer sentences, e.g., "950,000 Americans will be diagnosed with XXX disease this year. My book is the first one to outline all the alternative treatments available...." OR "In 1999, I started a company called Widgets Inc. In 2004, I took it public. I owe my success to the 480 people who work for me. My book is on how to manage a company while it's experiencing explosive growth..." TELL US what your book is about. Second, don't brag. DO NOT tell us "My mother/sister/psychic/client said I should write a book." (People write that every single day!) and DO NOT write "I know Oprah's dog groomer's uncle's ex-girlfriend" (every day, honest.) And NEVER write, "I'm giving you a once-in-a-lifetime chance to represent the biggest book of your career...." (Automatic DELETE button). Third, make it short. If it's an email, under 500 words for sure - no attachments ever. If it's paper, less than one page.
Step 4

Follow "Wendy's Rule of 30": In a book or online directory, find 30 agents who meet these two crucial criteria: they HAVE SOLD and are CURRENTLY SELLING books like yours. My agency sees upwards of 500 queries a week - at least 100 are for fiction or kids books, neither of which have we ever handled! Ever! ALL agents listings tell you what we handle. In my company's case, we announe everywhere that we "only nonfiction books for adults". The reason you don't want to send your idea, however brilliant you think it is, to an agent who DOES NOT handle your type of book is because we won't know the best editors to sell it to. We all work straight commission (15%)- so our lives DEPEND on knowing all the editors who buy the types of books we sell. We don't know the ones who don't. Sending me your fiction book is like asking your dentist to give you an eye exam - nonfiction, fiction, juvenile and screenplay agents are all VERY different types of specialties. Pay attention! Only send to people who can say yes to you!
Step 5

Carefully comply with the agent's preferred method of contact. For us, we ONLY want to see email queries (Query@KellerMedia.com) with NO attachments and only us in the "To" line. (BCC: if you must). My staff doesn't open attachments, and we THROW AWAY unopened any manuscripts that are sent to us by strangers. Some older agents still prefer the mail for queries, but 90% of us prefer email these days. Most directories have allowed us to tell authors our preference for receiving queries. Please comply or you risk never getting any response at all.
Step 6

SEND your query to the 30 agents you selected. Interested agents WILL reply within 2 weeks. Anyone you don't hear from in a maximum of 4 weeks is NOT interested or is too busy to handle you properly - or most likely of all, doesn't handle the type of book you're offering. If 30 days after sending your query, some people want to see your book - send it. (That's another article). Never give any agents an exclusive - that's sinful, really, and serves only them, not you the author. If NO ONE wants to see it, you must come to one of two conclusions: 1) Your query writing skills are poor or 2) your topic is not marketable for some reason. If some agents look at it but no one offers you representation, improve your writing skills or the proposal or both. Remember this: agents live on COMMISSION. That means we are like sharks always looking for the next meal. If your book idea is good, you'll have 5 or more people out of 30 wanting to see it, I promise. If it is marginal, maybe one or two. If it is lousy, well, you can guess. Suggestion: If no one responds positively to your query, re-write it better, send it to another 30 and if none of them will represent you, NOW you know it's Option 2 above. Write something else. Publishing is about perseverance, not stupid perseverance where you keep sending out the same query thinking "maybe someday" but SMART perseverance - where you adapt to the real market feedback agents are giving you (covertly or overtly) and improve your idea over and over - as many times as it takes - until you get the publishing contract of your dreams. GOOD LUCK!

Comments

claydog1 said

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on 11/2/2008 Wonderful insight, great article.

QABumper said

on 10/8/2008 Very informative. Thank you!

on 8/15/2008 Although I write fiction, I found the article very informative. The information is relevant to those of us who write fiction as well. Great job Ms. Keller. Too bad you don't accept fiction. I would contact you.