Agents
Notes I took during the Agent Panel at Worldcon.
What Agents Want: The most obvious thing that an agent wants is to be able to sell your book. They want books that they can market to publishers. This happens with well written content. Agents want to be able to love your book. If they love the story and are passionate about the characters then they are more likely to sell your book because if they're just as enthusiastic as you are (the author). Agents read your work as a reader first. They want to be captivated and drawn into the story just as an average reader would. Characters and pacing help to hook the agent. They want real characters that they can immediately care about. If your agent cares, then you know that publishers will too. Like any good book, agents want to live inside your story. They want to be hooked, drawn in, and to stay there.
Before you find an agent make sure you've written several drafts. Did you have beta readers? Do you have a writing group? The manuscript should be polished enough to be readable and hookable.
How do you find an Agent? The first thing the panel said on this subject was to find them in the bar, ha ha. But, honestly, they were all sitting in the bar at Worldcon. If you were not at Worldcon, or your book isn't at that stage of querying yet, or if you can't find an agent at your local bar, then the internet is the place to go! Almost all agents take e-submissions, but agents are human beings and some might like paper submissions. It depends on the agent.
Online websites to go to:
Agents take commission. If someone claiming to be an agent is asking you for money then they're not a real agent.
Agents want to build a brand: Agents are going to ask what you are working on next. They want to market you to the publishers. Publishers like brands that way they can market towards certain readers and this helps sell your books. You begin to gain an audience and a following. Do you as the author write in the same genre? Do you have other projects that you are working on?
What Agents Want: The most obvious thing that an agent wants is to be able to sell your book. They want books that they can market to publishers. This happens with well written content. Agents want to be able to love your book. If they love the story and are passionate about the characters then they are more likely to sell your book because if they're just as enthusiastic as you are (the author). Agents read your work as a reader first. They want to be captivated and drawn into the story just as an average reader would. Characters and pacing help to hook the agent. They want real characters that they can immediately care about. If your agent cares, then you know that publishers will too. Like any good book, agents want to live inside your story. They want to be hooked, drawn in, and to stay there.
Before you find an agent make sure you've written several drafts. Did you have beta readers? Do you have a writing group? The manuscript should be polished enough to be readable and hookable.
How do you find an Agent? The first thing the panel said on this subject was to find them in the bar, ha ha. But, honestly, they were all sitting in the bar at Worldcon. If you were not at Worldcon, or your book isn't at that stage of querying yet, or if you can't find an agent at your local bar, then the internet is the place to go! Almost all agents take e-submissions, but agents are human beings and some might like paper submissions. It depends on the agent.
Online websites to go to:
- The Writers and Authors Year Book
- Writers Beware
- Publishers Market Place
You can also look up guilds, agencies, and go to author's websites to see if they have their agent listed.
What to do when you find agents: Do your homework! Agents want you to research them. You (the author) are looking to enter a partnership. All the panelists agreed that picking an agent is like getting married. They want someone that they like and can spend time with, and so do you. When looking for an agent they want you to put the time in researching them. You spend X number of years on your novel, you put in the time and they want the same. They don't want you to just do a five minute google search and call it a day.
Look at their client list: which authors are they representing? Look at what genre their authors are writing. Is that the genre you (the author) want to be in? Read the writers that they represent. Do you like these authors? It takes a lot of time and effort to research an agent that you believe will be right for you.
Do you want editorial feedback? Or do you want your writing left untouched until the publishers can get you an editor? Different agents like to do different things. What do you as the author want from your agent? Be bothered to get to know the agent and their career. Be attentive to details: what is currently being published in the genre that you're writing?
Querying an agent: If you've seen them/meet them at Cons (like Worldcon) mention this in your Query. Mention the authors that you have read from their client list. This shows that you did your research and they will be impressed and more likely to meet or have a phone call with you. Don't be overconfident in you query, this is annoying, but don't be apologetic either. Be self-aware, be professional. Again this is a job interview. Don't judge your own work in the query: your writing will speak for itself.
A good pitch will make the agent interested. Think of the blurbs on the back cover of the book, "What makes you (as a reader) pick up a book?" What makes you interested? You have to do this in your pitch. However, don't pitch several projects. Just pitch one at a time.
An agent got back to you: Try to meet the agent in person. If you can't do that then a good phone call will do. Think of the first time you meet the agent like a first date. Again you are entering a relationship. If you don't get along then that is OKAY. Find someone you do get along with. This goes both ways because we are all humans. Ask the right questions or the right answers. This is a job interview. Be professional.
Agents take commission. If someone claiming to be an agent is asking you for money then they're not a real agent.
Agents want to build a brand: Agents are going to ask what you are working on next. They want to market you to the publishers. Publishers like brands that way they can market towards certain readers and this helps sell your books. You begin to gain an audience and a following. Do you as the author write in the same genre? Do you have other projects that you are working on?
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