How to Find a Literary Agent
Wednesday Writing Weekly #58: How to Find a Literary Agent
If you want to get a book traditionally published, you will need a literary agent. Literary agents provide authors with representation for pitching their books to publishers, negotiating contracts, and providing guidance for the evolution your book will experience through the querying, editing, and publishing process.
If you do not know where to begin, I want to share some of my favorite ways to find a literary agent.
What is a Literary Agent?
A literary agent will represent an author’s book to potential publishers. This is a step in the traditional publishing roadmap. Literary agents take on projects they are passionate about and think have a chance of marketable success. Literary agents will submit your finished manuscript to a variety of publishers and will help you through the negotiations, questions, and even auctions, as necessary.
Something to keep in mind is that literary agents usually take about 15% of the book’s deal as their payment (this amount can vary depending on your publisher and contract.) You, the author, are not the one paying for their services.
Where to Look for Literary Agents
Knowing where to look can sometimes be the biggest question of all. My favorite tip is to crack open a book but there are many ways to go about this.
Books: Start here first. You want agents that like to work with books similar to your own. Go to the store or library, select a pile of books in your genre, and see who those authors’ agents are. Often, you can find the agent’s name listed in the author’s acknowledgement’s page. If not, look it up online!
References: Guide to Literary Agents from Writer’s Digest Books is a fantastic resource. Learn everything you need to know about agents and enjoy an entire list of active agents. It’s a one-stop shop!
Publisher’s Marketplace and AgentQuery.com: These databases are the Facebook of the publishing industry. Search literary agents here and get instant information about how to contact them, their previous projects, their manuscript wish lists, and more.
Query Tracker: A useful tool to search agents or to see if they are currently open for submissions. This website is most used during the submissions stage as many literary agents have gone virtual and accept applications via this website (or email.)
Literary Agent Red Flags
Just like any profession or job you hire someone to do, look for someone who has the portfolio and skills to back up and improve your work. While you do not pay a literary agent upfront for their representation, (you split the publishing deal instead) you want someone with not only a firm understanding of the industry but a passion for your work. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: your literary agent is your cheerleader.
Here are some potential red flags to look out for:
Non-existent or questionable client list.
Seeking payment upfront and out of the author’s pocket.
Hard to reach or contact in applications and during the project.
An agent is listed on “writer’s beware” or scam lists.
Not associated with professional groups or organizations.
Examples: Association of Author’s Representatives, Association of Author’s Agents, or The Association of American Literary Agents (Not an exhaustive or all-inclusive list, but a good place to start.)
Examples
David Godwin represented Samantha Shannon’s work, The Priory of the Orange Tree.
Louise Fury represented Rebecca Yarros’ work, Iron Flame.
InkWell Management Literary Agency represents James Patterson!
Conclusion
The querying trail is a long and hard one. This is a process that can take up to a year (or more if you revise and try again.) It is not something to rush. To find your best shot at representation, you want to make sure your manuscript is polished, you have a query letter and author bio ready, and you have done your research on the current market. With these steps taken, you are closer to finding your agent.
In my next article about querying, I will talk about how to query an agent, all the ways you can hurt your chances in that process, and how to set yourself up for success.